Meeting Bella Swan
by Innocent-Youth
Summary: AU/AH/OOC/Canon. Journalist Edward Cullen has the opportunity to interview famous singer Isabella Swan. They both feel attracted to each other, but surely they won't ever meet again, or will they? Even if, could Bella ever get involved with a journalist?
1. Chapter 1: An Important Day

**A/N: This is my first Twilight fic, so any feedback is very welcome. I'm always a few chapters ahead with writing, but I'll happily listen to any input by readers. I know this chapter is quite short, but I promise they will get a little longer.**

**A special thank you goes to **_**MsSailorman**_** for being kind enough to beta this fic for me.**

**Disclaimer: We all know these characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, so I won't be repeating this at every single chapter. The plot however is mine, mine, mine *insert evil laugh*.**

**Meeting Bella Swan**

Chapter 1: An Important Day

Today I was going to meet Isabella Swan.

I was one of the very few people who got to have an interview with her. I worked as reporter for Revolver Magazine and, as Isabella Swan's new album was about to hit the stores in a few days, she was doing a little promotional work. Let me stress the little there; only a few big magazines were invited to a listening session and even fewer got to have an interview with her.

Isabella Swan was a private person. Or at least, that's what everybody assumed, seeing that there wasn't much to go on. She did touring, TV performances and such, but she didn't have signing sessions, she didn't give a lot of interviews – none on camera even – and there was very little personal information about her available.

So, when I heard I had the opportunity to interview Isabella Swan, I had to admit I was pretty excited. I started working for Revolver years ago, at first only reviewing concerts and albums of unknown bands but I had slowly worked my way up and now I was one of the main reporters which was why I got the assignment.

Because this interview was so important, I prepared myself even better than usual. Not that I usually didn't prepare myself, but those interviews were mostly more relaxed. This time, it kind of felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I wasn't going to screw this up. Lately, I had been listening to Bella Swan's previous albums quite obsessively and I had gone through all the minor facts that were known about her. I had even checked the gossip websites to see if there was something else there, but it turned out even paparazzi had a hard time stalking her to take pictures of her drinking her morning coffee in a Starbucks.

I had set my alarm clock extremely early today, wanting to make sure I didn't oversleep. It was ridiculous really, because now I was sitting here in my hotel room just waiting for the clock to read 8:30. I was all set; I had even packed my bag yesterday evening already and now all I could do was wait. For a moment, I felt like a geek that had no life but I quickly told myself it was good thing I was well prepared.

When it was eight, I decided to head out so I could grab a coffee and some breakfast in the little place I'd seen yesterday, just around the corner of the hotel. I went through my bag one more time to make sure I really had packed everything I'd need and made my way to the coffee place. After a quick breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs and coffee, I got another coffee on the go and grabbed a taxi to the building of the record company where the listening session would be held. Thinking of the upcoming interview, I scolded myself as I realised I kept running my hand through my hair, one of my classic nervous habits.

The receptionist at the record company showed me to the right room, flirting with me while we walked there. She was annoying the hell out of me when she deliberately brushed her breasts against the side of my body while she held the door for me. I never liked it when women were too eager. I hoped my forced smile was a polite one as I told her thanks.

A few fellow reporters were already waiting in the room and slowly more journalists were arriving. Of course Isabella's manager was delayed – somehow that always happened at these kinds of things – and the listening session started fifteen minutes later than planned. As far as I could judge from hearing the CD only once, I had to say Isabella Swan's vocals had developed a lot and she was experimenting with different kind of singing styles. The music itself had more of a rock sound than her previous releases, much to my liking, but the songs were still catchy enough to sell.

After the listening session, the manager told the reporters that were to have an interview with Isabella herself to wait while the other journalists were asked to leave. There were only two – _fuck yeah, I am one of two to interview her_ – of us left and the manager took us to a room a few levels up.

"There are some strict rules about the interviews." Isabella's manager told us while he got what I assumed were statement papers out of his bag, "No questions about her personal life, personal relationships, personal whatever. Nothing will get published until it has been approved by Miss Swan herself and her management and if something is said off the record, it is definitely off the record and we don't want to _ever_ see it published anywhere." He handed out the papers and I was right about it being for statements, "If you'll sign these, the interviewing time can begin."

After signing the copy given to me I handed it back to the stern-looking manager. I wasn't really used to this sort of thing but I had already assumed something alike would happen, seeing how little publicity work Isabella Swan did and how it was so important to her that her personal life remained private.

It turned out I was scheduled to be the second and last one to see her and I was told to wait in the room we were currently in. The manager left with the other journalist and a few minutes later a middle-aged woman came in, bringing me coffee. Before I could even tell her thanks, she left and I decided to mentally go over all the questions I had planned to ask again while drinking my coffee.

As time passed by, I was starting to feel a little nervous. Never before had I been nervous for an interview. No, that wasn't true. I had been scared shitless before my first interview but that was only normal. I tried to convince myself I was as prepared as one could be and, logically, I knew I was. It didn't really help though. Maybe I shouldn't have had six cups of coffee within – I checked my watch – two hours and forty-five minutes. _Yeah, probably not that smart, but what can I do about that now?_

I got interrupted from my musings when the manager entered again, practically scowling at me.

"Miss Swan is ready to see you now."

I smiled internally, thinking about how it sounded like I was being called to the principal back in high school. I got up from my seat taking my bag with me and followed the manager. He stopped at a door near the end of the hallway.

"Just a sec."

He opened the door and got in, not fully closing the door behind him so I could still hear what was being said.

"Ready, Bells?"

"Sure, Jazz, bring him in."

_Jazz? That's the managers name? No wonder he hadn't properly introduced himself. What kind of name is that?_

The manager opened the door fully and I was let in. I was taken aback the moment I locked eyes with her, an unfamiliar feeling running through my body. I cleared my throat, trying to focus on something – anything – else than this weird feeling and put on my best professional smile.

She was sitting Indian-style on a white couch, wearing sweatpants, a t-shirt and a halfway zipped-up hoodie, her hands folded around a cup of steaming coffee. She wasn't wearing any make-up and her hair was put up in a messy bun, a few strands hanging loose around her face. She was looking at me with the most beautiful brown eyes I had ever seen, a shy smile played around her lips and her cheeks had a pinkish glow.

Of course I had seen her on photos before, mostly from her live performances or promotional photo shoots, but not a single picture had shown her true beauty. She was gorgeous, divine-looking really, even while sitting here looking like she was spending a Sunday afternoon on the couch at her own house.

"Hi." She greeted me.

"Hi." I greeted her back and extended my hand to introduce myself to her. "I'm Edward Cullen, Revolver Magazine."

"Nice meeting you, Edward." She let go of her coffee cup with her right hand and shook mine, her hand incredibly warm. "I'm Bella Swan."

The moment our hands touched, I simply knew it;

Today my life was going to change forever.


	2. Chapter 2: A Completely Fucked up Day

**A/N: First of all, I would like to thank everybody who took the time to leave me a review and/or added this story to their alerts and/or their favourites. I seriously loved the many FF-Net notifications in my inbox :)**

**Next, I'd like to thank **_**MsSailorman**_** for beta'ing.**

**Alright, new chapter time!**

Chapter 2: A Completely Fucked-up Day

"Bella!"

"What?" I groaned and turned around in the hotel bed, pulling the cover tighter around myself.

When it stayed silent for a few more moments, I figured that the person had left my room and I was close to falling back asleep again. Then a hand ruffled through my hair and I knew I wasn't going to catch any more sleep today. I felt how the mattress moved as someone sat down on the edge of it.

"Time to get up, Bells."

"I don't want to." I groaned again, "I fucking hate journalists."

"I know, babe. But it's only one day, and we have decided to invite just two magazines for the interview part."

I snorted. "Babe? _Really_?" I opened my eyes, looking into the eyes of my manager and one of my best friends, Jasper.

He didn't respond to my comment but simply extended his hand to me, offering me a cup of coffee. I sat up in the bed and took the cup from him, mumbling a thanks. I knew from the look in Jasper's eyes that he was switching from friend to manager mode.

"Ten to twelve journalists will be present at the listening session. That will take about fifty minutes. Then, two of them will get to interview you, thirty minutes each."

"Thirty? That much?"

"It's not that much, Bells. You're just not used to it."

I slowly drank my coffee, careful not to burn my tongue. I really hated journalists. They always wanted to know everything about my personal life. Like that mattered musically wise. I just wanted to do my thing, and my thing was making music and performing for my fans.

Luckily, Jasper had been one of my closest friends since we were about two years old and understood my need for privacy. After a while, TV stations, magazines, papers and whatever other media there were out there stopped asking for interviews, knowing they'd get rejected anyway.

My label, however, had decided they wanted me to do some promotional work for this album. Knowing I had been very lucky with their understanding so far, Jasper and I had decided I should probably give in. Today I was going to have to face the consequences of that.

I finished my coffee and gave the cup back to Jasper. "Where are Alice and Rose?"

He took the cup and shrugged. "You won't be needing them today, not for the interviews at least. No cameras are allowed, so you can just show up in whatever."

I let out a surprised 'oh' but was happy about the fact I was at least allowed to endure the torture while wearing what I wanted and felt comfortable in.

Alice, Jasper's girlfriend, was my stylist and always insisted on buying me lots of hot and fabulous – her words, not mine – outfits and dressing me from head to toe. Rosalie was her partner in crime, fixing my hair and make-up. I had to admit they were good at their jobs, but sometimes they drove me crazy with their endless discussions over which colour eyeshade would match best with my ridiculously expensive t-shirt. But I loved them anyway. Like Jasper, they had been my friends since I was little.

"Come on, Bells. You should eat some breakfast or they will write about how your stomach is growling all the time and how you obviously have an eating disorder." Jasper flashed a smile at me.

I shoved his shoulder but couldn't keep myself from smiling at him. I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom to go through my morning routine. Manager Jasper kept talking to me through the closed bathroom door.

"Emmett will be here to pick you up in…" I suspected he was looking at his watch "exactly twenty-five minutes, so be ready. I have to go now, I'm already running a little late for the listening session." I heard him walk off, but then he seemed to change his mind as his footsteps sounded closer again. "Alice and Rose will be here when we get back from the interviews. We will leave to the venue around four this afternoon. You will have to do a sound check first, then Alice and Rose are going to work their magic on you – their words, not mine, you know I think you're beautiful already."

"Would you stop flirting with me, Jazz?" My smile was clearly audible in my voice, "I would never betray Alice like that."

He chuckled before saying goodbye and I heard the door of my room get opened and closed again. I got rid of my pyjamas and hit the shower, turning the water as hot as my skin could take. I relaxed a little, enjoying the feeling of the water pouring down on my body and tried not to think about the upcoming interviews.

Tonight I'd have to perform the entire new album on a release party. I was told all tickets were given away in contests and apparently a lot of fans would be present. I wasn't worried about singing my new songs on stage. I already knew I would think I was going to get sick until the last minute before the show would start, but the feeling always disappeared the moment I sung my first line.

In a few days, the album would officially hit the stores and then I would be off touring again. I was looking forward to it, because the feeling of hearing an entire venue sing your songs was the best thing ever. Like a drug that gets you fucking high and you can't ever get enough of. I was a little nervous about how the fans would respond to the new album since the sound had changed slightly, but to me it still felt like Bella. I hoped they would think the same.

I turned off the water and wrapped a towel around my body. I left the bathroom as I realised I didn't take any clean underwear with me and headed for my suitcase. I hadn't bothered to unpack the day before, because unpacking really was a waste of time with my lifestyle. I searched through my stuff, looking for panties and a bra, quickly finding a simple but matching pair. I pulled the towel off my body, shivering as the cold air in the room hit my still damp skin. I hastened to put on the panties and was in the process of putting on my bra when Emmett burst through my door.

"Fuck! Emmett!" I yelled at him.

His eyes were widened in horror before he quickly put his hand over them.

"Normal people knock, you know." I rushed dressing myself, quickly throwing on a pair of comfy sweats and the first t-shirt I could find. "I'm decent now."

Emmett peeked through his index and middle finger first, then dropped his hand as he decided I was indeed decent.

"I guess I still have to get used to the fact you're not all that little anymore, B." He grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes in return. "As if I'd liked you walking into my room without knocking then."

"Hey!" He raised his arms as if to defend himself, "It's what big brothers do."

"Right." I tried to keep myself from laughing, but as usual with Emmett, I didn't succeed in that and I soon found myself grinning at him.

"Ready to go, little B? Jasper will kill me if I get you there late."

I quickly pulled my hair into a bun and grabbed a hoodie from my suitcase. "All set, favourite brother of mine."

He rolled his eyes at me as he ushered me out of my room. "I'm your _only_ brother, Bells."

"Oh, shoot. So you're saying I'm stuck with you?"

My good mood disappeared as Emmett and I walked out of the hotel and we got into a black car with tainted windows. When I was with Emmett I usually forgot all about my so-called rock star life and status, but here I was on my way to interviews and album release parties. I let out a deep sigh and Emmett looked at me with knowing eyes.

"I know, little B."

I gave him the best smile I could manage before I leaned against him and he wrapped an arm around me. Definitely one of things I loved about our height difference; Emmett could always make me feel like I was hidden from the world for a while. That, and the fact he was huge made him suitable to act as my bodyguard, so I hadn't had to hire a total stranger when I became famous enough to be recognized on the street. And I secretly just loved having Emmett around all the time. No matter where we were, having Emmett with me felt like home.

The driver stopped the car at a backside entrance of the record company's head quarters and I had to let go of Emmett. He got out and made his way around the car, looking around carefully before he opened my door and pulled me inside with him quickly.

A borderline slutty-looking receptionist brought us to a room that was furnished like a living room and Emmett and I both sat down. A few minutes later, a middle-aged woman delivered coffee, water and a few different kinds of soda, pouring me a cup of coffee – as if I couldn't do so myself – before leaving the room again.

The worst thing probably was that I was getting used to having other people do things for me. I pulled a face, annoyed with myself and how this whole being-famous thing was slowly changing me. Because it was, there was no way I could deny that. Sometimes I read about some actor or musician saying how they felt they were still the same person after their big break-through and I knew they were lying. It was impossible to stay the same you as before. It didn't mean I didn't try though; it was one of the main reasons why I wanted my personal life to stay private.

My stomach growled, signalling I needed to eat something. I realised I had forgotten to have breakfast, even though Jasper had mentioned it to me.

"Hungry?" Emmett asked, pulling me out of my own world into the real one.

"Yeah…Would you mind getting me something to eat?" I smiled at him apologetically, because I asked him to run errands for me far too often.

"Sure, no probs. What do you want to have?" Emmett got up from his seat and walked over to the door.

"I don't really care. You know what I like and dislike." Another advantage of having someone with you who knew you inside-out.

Emmett left and I was quickly feeling bored. I was never really good at waiting and because we'd left my hotel room so quickly, I didn't even have my iPod with me to entertain myself. I almost never went somewhere without my iPod. Even before I'd gotten signed by a label, music had been my biggest obsession, and it still was. The only difference being I actually made music myself now, too, and made a decent amount of money with it.

When I poured myself a second cup of coffee, Jasper entered the room.

"The first journalist is here."

Trying to stall the interview, even if only for a few moments, I asked Jasper how the listening session went.

"Overall, they all seemed pleased. Judging from his face, I think the guy that will be interviewing you secondly liked it a lot, so I'm sure he'll play nice later on."

"Fingers crossed." I took a deep breath, "Alright, here goes nothing."

Jasper gave me an apologetic smile, knowing how uncomfortable I felt. Then he opened the door again, calling the journalist that had been waiting there.

The first interview didn't go all too bad, I guess. The reporter was pretty nosy, still trying to get to know more about my personal business, but Jasper told him off each time he asked a personal question. I doubt the journalist had gotten a lot of out of the interview because he had wasted his time on arguing why certain questions should or shouldn't be considered too personal.

_I'm sure his editor will be pleased with that. Interviewing Bella Swan and walking out with nothing more than what he already knew._

I smiled to myself, because I really thought the guy was an ass. Jasper asked me if he could go get the second interviewer, or if I wanted a few minutes to myself. I told him to get the journalist because I really just wanted to get this over with.

I got myself another cup of coffee. I was sure that wasn't really good for my nerves, but I was a caffeine junkie these days so I didn't have much of a choice. I settled back onto the couch, sitting down with my legs crossed. I tried to focus on the fact the horrible part of today would be over after this interview and I relaxed a little. Besides, Jasper said he thought this guy would probably be easier to handle as he seemed to like my new album.

Jasper entered the room again, and back were the nerves. _So much for relaxing a little._

"Ready, Bells?"

I sighed internally, but gave him a small smile. "Sure, Jazz, bring him in."

Jasper turned to the door, opening it again and inviting the journalist in. When the guy entered and our eyes locked, I felt a too familiar feeling running through my body.

_Shit._

He was beautiful, wearing slacks with a casual t-shirt of some band I didn't know. His hair was a mess, but I could tell he had tried to make it look less like sex hair. My fingers were itching, and I desperately wanted to run them through his bronze coloured locks of hair. I smiled at him shyly and I felt my cheeks burn up a little.

He cleared his throat and I realised I was probably staring at him. He smiled at me politely and I practically melted.

"Hi." I greeted him.

"Hi." He held out his hand to introduce himself to me. "I'm Edward Cullen, Revolver Magazine."

"Nice meeting you, Edward." I let go of the coffee cup with my right hand and shook his, his hand feeling cold compared to mine. "I'm Bella Swan."

The moment our hands touched, I simply knew it;

I was totally, completely, and utterly fucked.


	3. Chapter 3: Distractions

**A/N: Honestly, I've always wondered why writers put big thank you's to their readers at each and every chapter, but I think I've found my answer. It makes me incredibly happy to get reviews/favs/alerts every single time. I have no idea if it's a lot of hits generally speaking, but nearing 600 with only 2 chapters up makes me yay. So yes, THANK YOU all for reading.**

**Thank you **_**MsSailorman**_** for beta'ing.**

**Now, here comes the interview!**

Chapter 3: Distractions

After our introductions, Edward sat down in the chair across from me. He searched through his bag for a moment, getting out an audio recorder.

I patiently waited until he had set up everything, focussing my gaze on my coffee cup and trying to get myself under control again. I felt the couch move and looked to Jasper, giving him a tiny smile. He placed his hand on my knee and squeezed me reassuringly. He probably thought I was freaking out because of the interview itself instead of the handsome interviewer.

_It's probably for the best if he thinks that._

Edward seemed done with everything and he cleared his throat again.

"Feel free to grab some water or a soda." Jasper told him, and pointed to the drinks on the table that had been brought to me earlier.

Muttering a 'thanks', Edward leaned forward and grabbed a bottle of water. He opened it and drank half of the water.

_Is he nervous? Did he feel that spark too when…Oh, shut up, Bella. He's probably nervous about having an interview with the great Isabella Swan._

"I have to say that I enjoyed what I heard at the listening session a lot, Miss Swan. I like the more rocky edge most songs seem to have, which wasn't prese-"

"Let's just start with the questions." Jasper interrupted him, annoying me with his rudeness. Jasper was never rude. Or was he like this when he was out playing my manager? I didn't see a lot of Jasper's manager side, I guess, except when he rattled off schedules to me.

"It's okay, Jazz. Thank you for the compliment, Edward." I gave Edward a smile, hoping he wouldn't get too annoyed with Jasper.

He gave me a tiny smile back and nodded towards Jasper, before looking at me again. "Alright. For your previous albums, you did some of the writing yourself, but the better part of the music and lyrics were written by other persons." I nodded, letting him know that what he said was correct. "For this album you did most of the writing yourself. Was there a particular reason?"

That was actually a good question. "Well, I've been writing songs for a couple of years now but when I got signed I realised my songs weren't good enough to be recorded. Now, with all the co-writing I'd been doing on my previous albums, I figured out how to make a song sound better, more fluently. So I ended up editing a few songs I had already written before and writing some new material and before I knew it, I had enough tracks to fill an alb-"

I got interrupted by Jasper's ringtone. I looked at him, feeling somewhat annoyed that he hadn't turned off his phone, or at least put it on silence. He glanced at the caller's ID and he stood up.

"Sorry, Bells, I have to take this. I'll be just outside."

"Fine." It came out a lot harsher than I had meant and I quickly smiled at him, hoping he'd accept my silent apology.

He smiled back before excusing himself to Edward and left the room.

For a moment, I didn't know what I had been talking about. I always lost track of what I was saying when I got distracted.

"You were saying, Miss Swan?" Edward asked, obviously wanting me to continue my answer.

"Err…"

He chuckled and I thought it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. "You said you had rewritten a few of your older songs and had written some new material?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, I get distracted easily." I smiled at him apologetically. "And call me Bella, please. Or… maybe not in front of Jasper, he doesn't like it when…" I trailed off, realising I was babbling. I cleared my throat, trying to regain my composure because Jasper wasn't here to save me now. "Right. Well. Err, I had enough songs to fill an album and I got them to the label. After some adjustments by real songwriters, they were ready to be recorded."

_There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?_

"Are there any artists in particular that influence your sound?"

"Uh…Not really, I guess. Personally, I like a lot of different genres in music, and I don't have one artist or band in particular that I like more than others. I think that maybe this album has more of a rocky edge, as you called it, because I wrote it myself and I've grown up to rock music. My dad is a huge fan of bands like _Deep Purple_."

_Fuck. Talking about your dad is personal information, Bella. You don't want them to know that._

Edward chuckled again, this time probably due to the realisation he had gotten something personal out of me. "That sounds so familiar. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget walking into the living room to find my dad there, playing air guitar and pretending to be a good singer."

_Okay, not what I had expected._

I laughed because that actually did sound familiar. "I know, right? And it was so fucking embarrassing when you were having friends over, back in the high school days." I scolded myself as I realised I was even throwing in cursing now too. "Please leave the cursing out." I sounded cold and bitchy all of a sudden, and Edward seemed to notice the change in my voice as he shifted in his seat and his face turned serious again.

"Of course." He hesitated before adding, "Next question?"

I nodded and smiled at him, knowing I shouldn't blame him for my own disability of leaving my personal stuff out of this conversation, or my cursing for that matter.

He still looked a little uncomfortable when he spoke up again. "What things inspire you to write music?"

"I…" I frowned and bit my lip while I thought about the answer to the question. "I don't know, really." I fell silent for a moment, really not knowing what the answer was. "It-It just hits me, you know. It comes and goes. Sometimes I don't write anything for months, sometimes I write three songs a day. There isn't…I don't know. There isn't anything in particular that gets me to write, it just…"

"Happens?"

"Exactly."

He seemed to relax again because he smiled at me. "Yeah, I get that."

"Oh, you write yourself?" I pointed to his t-shirt, "Is that your band?"

He looked down at his t-shirt, like he didn't know which shirt he was actually wearing, and shook his head. "No, it's from a local band."

"Oh. Right." I was sure he had to be impressed with my vocabulary.

He hesitated again, opening his mouth a few times and closing it again before he finally decided to speak up, "I play piano and guitar, and I sing a little. I don't write a lot of songs, but…well, sometimes it just happens." He grinned at me as he used my sentence from before.

I grinned back at him, glad the good atmosphere had returned. "What kind of music do you write?"

"Different kinds, really. I enjoy a lot of different genres too. From classical to rock, pop to alternative. I don't care about genres, good music is good music. All that 'I'm a true listener' shit is exactly that; shit."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Edward."

We got interrupted when Emmett walked into the room.

"Got you your breakfast, B." He handed me a brown paper bag and he nodded into Edward's direction as greeting. "Everything fine over here? Where is Jazz?"

"Everything's fine. Jazz is just taking a call outside, didn't you see him in the hallway?"

Emmett shook his head. "Whatever. I'll let you get back to work." He ruffled my hair, ruining how I looked even more.

"Emmett!"

He simply laughed and left the room again.

I looked at Edward again and he was looking at me amused. "That's my br-… bodyguard." I ran my hands through my hair, pulling it all free instead of having it half loose, half in a bun. "Sorry about the interruption. Again."

"That's fine. It's quite… amusing, really."

I looked into the bag Emmett had handed me and saw he had bought me a delicious looking sandwich. "Do you mind if I eat? I didn't have any breakfast yet."

"Oh, sure, go ahead." He smiled at me, leaning back casually in his seat. "Bon appetite."

"Thanks." I got the sandwich out and took a bite. I closed my eyes and let out a content sigh because it tasted as delicious as it looked. "Mmh, so good." I opened my eyes again, looking at Edward. "Jasper told me to have breakfast before the interviews, saying how you guys would write about me having an eating disorder if you'd hear my stomach growl."

Edward laughed at that and I was certain my heart skipped a beat. "I don't know about the other guy, but I don't really like drawing conclusions like that."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure your colleague reporter before would have _loved_ a story like that." I took another bite from my sandwich before leaning over to the table to grab a bottle of water.

Edward pulled a face. "I hate those gossip reporters. I don't get why they even call themselves journalists, too. It's not very objective to only write about persons when they're at a low point in their lives."

I was kind of surprised by what he had just told me, as I had thought all journalist were the same and wanted to find something dirty on you. I really didn't know what to say so I simply continued eating my breakfast. I had barely finished eating when Jasper returned to the room.

"Alright, Mr. Cullen. Time's up, you've had your thirty minutes."

"Oh, right. Of course." Edward looked slightly panicked as he reached over to the table to get his audio recorder.

"Jasper," I started, then hesitated for a moment. _Was I really going to ask to give Edward a few extra minutes? _"I don't think he got to ask all his questions?" _Yes, I was._ I looked at Edward questioningly and he seemed relieved, nodding almost invisibly.

Jasper's head shot up at my comment, probably thinking I had gone crazy and I probably had. I hated interviews, why wasn't I glad to be over and done with them?

"He got his thirty minutes, Bella."

"I-I know. But then you got a call, and Emmett dropped by to get me breakfast, and I was eating, and…" I was babbling again. "He didn't _really_ get thirty minutes of interviewing."

Jasper eyed me for a moment, then shrugged and looked to Edward. "One more question."

One question. Okay, that wasn't much. But I had tried, right? I smiled at Edward apologetically, something I seemed to be doing a lot in the short time we'd spend together. I sat back on the couch again and Edward followed my example.

Jasper walked to the door again. "I have to make another call, something is wrong with the audio at the venue for tonight. Don't worry, it'll all be fine, I'll take care of it. But we will need to get you to do a sound check earlier than scheduled."

"Oh, okay. Sure everything will be fine?" I realised I sounded nervous, but it wasn't because of the audio problems. I was feeling out of my element and I didn't like it, but at the same time I didn't want Edward to leave yet.

_Pathetic._

"Of course, Bells. I fix things, that's why you love me." Jasper grinned at me before he seemed to realise Edward was still in the room. He switched to Manager Jasper again, "That'd better not be misinterpreted."

Edward nodded quickly at him.

"Good. As you were." Jasper left the room.

"This is quite the interview, huh?" I broke the silence.

"Yes. Yes, it is." Edward took a deep breath, before asking his the final question. "Kind of a lame question, but the readers always love it; What's your personal favourite from your new album?"

I laughed, "If Jasper were here now, he'd say that question was too personal."

"Oh, of course." He was about to get up and I realised he had misunderstood me.

"But he's not here, is he?" I winked at him.

_Holy fuck, Bella! What are you, a fucking teenager that can't control her hormones around a physically very attractive guy?_

Edward flashed me the sexiest smile I'd ever seen and I felt all warm inside.

_Get a fucking grip. You still have a question to answer._

"I guess my answer is as lame as the question; I really love all the songs, otherwise I wouldn't have put them on the album. I don't want anything released that I'm not a hundred percent satisfied with."

"Trust me, I have heard far lamer answers than that." This time, Edward really got up from his seat and packed his stuff.

"Did you get enough? I realise this wasn't the best interview ever." I stood up as well and I noticed for the first time he was a perfect match as to height. I scolded myself mentally again, because this was totally inappropriate.

"It's okay. I'm sure I'll be able to write something."

"I-I could ask Jasper to put you on the guest list tonight. It's the album release party and I'll be singing the entire album. We didn't plan on having any press there, bu-"

Edward's eyes widened a little and he interrupted me, "Oh, no, it's okay. Really, I have enough to write about. I'll write it and send it to your management as soon as possible."

"Okay. Well, I'll just tell him to add you to the guest list. You can still decide whether you want to come or not later. Do you need a plus one?"

"Nope," He gave me that sexy smile again, "here all by myself."

My heart skipped a beat, excited that he didn't have a girlfriend.

_Not _with_ him, at least. Shit, why the fuck do I even care? Girlfriend, really? You can't even allow yourself to have a one-night stand or it'll probably end up in the magazines. Let alone date a guy. Date a fucking journalist._

"Okay, I'll let him know."

"You really don't have to. I mean, it's fine. You don't have to invite me to compensate or anything. You don't like press." He stated.

I laughed at the last part of his sentence. "Since when do journalists know things about me?"

Edward blushed a little. "Sorry, I just assu-"

"Well, you're right. I don't like press."

The room became silent in an unpleasant, uncomfortable kind of way.

_Yeah, tell him you don't like him. Perfect, Bella._

"But… I-I also don't like it when people don't get what they came for." I bit my lip, "Just, stop by tonight, if you can and want to."

Edward sort of nodded, and then extended his hand. "Thanks for your time." He gave me that professional smile again like the one in the beginning of the interview and I felt like a fool. Of course this was just work for him. I shook his hand and smiled back at him.

"No problem. Hopefully see you tonight."

He nodded me goodbye and left the room within seconds.

I shouldn't have invited him. Now I was going to be distracted during the entire show tonight, not knowing for sure if he was out there, looking at me perform.

_Yep, I'm definitely fucked._

**A/N: Next up… EPOV.**

**Should I do the leave-a-review-get-a-teaser thing? Let me know :)**


	4. Chapter 4: To Go Or Not To Go

**A/N: Yay, over 1,000 hits and 50+ alerts! I love you, readers :) Thanks for reading.**

**Thanks to **_**MsSailorman**_**, my beta reader for this fic.**

**twissstertraci****; I wanted to send you the teaser, but PM'ing you was disabled so I couldn't, sorry!**

**On we go… Sorry, this chapter a little shorter than usual, please forgive me ;)**

Chapter 4: To Go or Not To Go

When the elevator doors shut, I finally allowed myself to think.

_What the fuck happened in there?_

My heart was beating so hard, I feared my ribs would break. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

Bella wasn't the person I had imagined her to be at all. I wasn't exactly sure what I had been expecting, but it wasn't this. Maybe some diva rock chick, not a nice, innocent-looking girl in sweatpants.

I'd never had an interview like this before. I had asked a total of what, three or four questions maybe? She had asked me at least as much. As if Bella herself hadn't been enough of a distraction, we had been interrupted two times as well.

_What kind of manager leaves his phone on during interviews?_

Yeah, a bad one. But he and Bella seemed to get along very well. Very well. Were they like, a thing or something? My stomach actually clenched at that thought. And then, there was her bodyguard. Another guy that didn't act professionally towards her and, again, Bella hadn't seemed to mind that much. Except when he screwed up her hair, maybe.

The lift pinged, signalling I had reached the ground floor, and I got out. I quickly left the building because I didn't feel at ease there.

_Yeah, right, like it's the building's fault. _

_Fine, let's be honest with myself here._

It wasn't the building, nor the interview itself, nor the manager, nor the bodyguard, nor any goddamn other fucking thing I could think of. It was her, Bella. Simple as that. Merely touching her hand twice had made me felt like…I couldn't even properly name it. But I wanted her. _A lot._

That I could deal with, but I was freaking out about the fucking need I felt to have her. _Need._ I had never felt need for a woman before. No, I met women at a bar, gig or whatever, wanted them, had them, and let go of them right after. I didn't do phone calls, I didn't do dates, let alone relationships.

_Cullen, you're a real asstard, you fucking man-whore._

Yep, I was. At least, I didn't do that often. I snorted to myself, realising that was a very poor excuse. Besides, that wasn't the problem at hand right now. I wanted – needed – Bella Swan. Like that was ever going to happen.

But my hand still fucking tingled from holding hers. Fuck, I felt like such a girl. I was pretty sure I growled out loud in frustration, because a few strangers I walked-by on the street eyed me strangely. Not really feeling like walking through crowds right now and getting looked at all the time, I quickly turned into an alley.

I took a deep breath and tried to look at things more objectively. I, Edward Cullen, was a journalist working for Revolver Magazine. I had always been professional and had done all my previous assignments very well. I just had an interview with Isabella Swan and she had invited me over to her album release party at which no other press would be present. If interviewing Bella had been a once-in-a-life-time opportunity, how the hell was I going to call this?

No matter what, I had to be there tonight. I had no fucking idea how I was going to deal with these feelings about her, but I simply would have to find a way. I smiled to myself, glad to have made up my mind. The moment I saw the persons getting into a car not too far away from me, that smile disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Bella was tugged under Emmett's arm, wearing huge sunglasses that hid almost half her face. I couldn't read the expression in her eyes, but she looked…tired, defeated. Her shoulders hunched forward a little, like she was carrying an invisible weight on them. I felt uneasy, not liking to see her that way. Emmett held the door for her and she gave him a tiny smile but it was easy to see it was a fake one. He said something to her and tugged a strand of hair behind her ear. She smiled at him again and this time she meant it. The uneasy feeling I had felt before turned into annoyance.

_Admit it, Cullen, you're jealous. Of her bodyguard. You're a fucking loser._

I was a fucking pathetic loser. Fucking screwed. The frustration from before was back again as I watched the black car drive away. This entire situation was a big, fucking mess. I wanted Isabella Swan, the famous singer, and I was a journalist writing about her. Like that would have a future.

_Whoa, future?_

My thoughts didn't make any sense. I couldn't explain how I felt logically. I just felt so… drawn to her. I wanted all of her, everything. It was so fucking bizarre because I had only just met her today, and we only talked for half an hour. Professionally, I might add.

Had she even noticed anything? Sure, she had been very nice, she had seemed relaxed and we had even laughed a little. I couldn't really explain her mood changes, but that was probably female business I didn't want to get into. But was she feeling as fucked up as I was now? She hadn't seemed all too happy when she left the building.

I snorted to myself. _Right, assume that has anything to do with you at all._ That Jasper guy had said there were some problems at the venue, she was probably worried about that. I knew I would be if I were her. The only thing of which I could conclude maybe, just maybe, she had felt the same way was when she had winked at me. She had fucking winked at me, and immediately a lot of inappropriate thoughts had popped into my head.

I was nearing a main road again and I held a cab, telling the driver the address of my hotel. I let my head fall back and sighed deeply. I forced myself not to think about a certain hot brunette and focussed on a tune that was developing in my head. I hoped I would still remember it when I got home, so I could work on it on the piano.

"Sir?"

I hadn't realised the taxi had stopped moving until the driver called me. I quickly paid him, leaving him a decent tip. The magazine was paying for my expenses here anyway. I took the stairs up to my room, not in the mood for standing in a crowded elevator. I slammed the door probably a little harder than I should have, then simply stood in the middle of my room, not knowing what to do.

It was decided for me when my cell rang, my mother's name, Esme, flashing on the display.

"Hi, mom."

"Edward! How are you, my boy?"

"I'm fine, mom." I sat down on the bed, knowing calls from my mother usually ended up being long. She still wanted to make sure I was taking care of myself while she wasn't around. Incredibly annoying, but I guess it was sweet too, in a way. "How's everything over there? How's dad?"

"Oh, the usual. Working long shifts at the hospital and all that." She paused for a moment. "Did you have the interview already?"

"Yeah, I did. I just got back, actually." Great, now my thoughts returned to Bella again.

I guess I fell silent too long, because my mother sounded impatient when she spoke up again. "Aaand?"

"It…uh, I guess it went… alright. She invited me to the album release party tonight." I hesitated for a moment, knowing my mother usually figured me out right away and I didn't need her to know how confused I was feeling. "She wasn't what I had expected her to be."

"O-oh. Is that good or bad?"

"Definitely good. She seemed a good person, not arrogant or anything. I don't meet people like that a lot anymore. She asked me about my music when she found out I wrote some myself, and she seemed genuinely interested in the answer. She even asked her manager to give me more time when our time was up."

_Yes, that is definitely how you _not _inform your mother about your confusing feelings concerning Bella. Moron._

"She sounds nice."

"Yeah, she is."

"You're going to that party tonight then, huh?"

"Yep. I'm the only journalist they asked, so it's definitely something exclusive for the mag."

"Mmhmm. Is that the only reason why you're going?"

She knew. She had figured it out, exactly like I had expected. I had hoped otherwise though. Ah well, maybe some womanly advice wouldn't hurt. Handling feelings wasn't really a part of the Y-chromosome, right?

"Yes. No. Maybe…not."

When she didn't respond, I hesitated whether I should continue or not. "She…I don't know."

"Tell me, Eddie-boy."

I groaned when she used the nickname she had given me years ago. "Mooom." I was aware that I sounded like a whining little brat.

"Six and a half hours of labour, dear. I can call you whatever I want."

I smiled at her comment for a moment, then turned serious again. "I'm pretty… confused about this. There…we…I…It's hard to explain." I shifted on the bed, picking the covers unconsciously. "We had a connection, you know. Fuck, I sound like a girl."

"Language, Edward." My mother said, using her stern voice with me.

"Sorry, mom."

"You like her?"

I thought for a moment, then decided on a yes. But I didn't need to inform Esme about that. "I guess, but I don't actually _know_ her. I have to write about her, I can't… We can't…I don't even know if…Ugh." I was frustrated all over again. "Listen, mom…I want to go exercise a little before I have to get ready for tonight."

"Okay, dear. Take care."

"You, too. Tell dad I said hi?"

"I will." I could hear the smile in her voice. "And, Edward?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sure you can get to know her if you want to. If she invited you while she doesn't like press at all, she must have a different reason than inviting you as a journalist."

I didn't respond to that and said my goodbye, promising my mother to call her again soon. I threw my cell on the nightstand because I wouldn't be needing it at the hotel gym and searched through my suit case for sports clothes. I quickly changed and headed out to the gym to work off some of my frustration.

**A/N: Here's what I'm going to do concerning the teasers; If you leave me a review, please let me know if you want a teaser, seeing not all of you want them. If you don't mention it, I won't send you anything.**

**I'm currently working on an E/B one-shot as well. I hope to finish it before the end of this week, so add me to you author alerts if you want to get a notification when it's up. I'm still looking for a beta reader for it, so anyone with a beta profile here on FF willing to beta? Let me know :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Girl Talk

**A/N: Thank you everybody for the reviews, favs and alerts. I love those still increase with each chapter I post.**

**I posted an E/B one-shot earlier today, called The Good Girl. It would be great if it got some more reviews *hint hint***

**As always, thanks to my beta, **_**MsSailorman**_** :)**

Chapter 5: Girl Talk

"What? Why?!"

"Just do it, Jasper." I never called him by his full name, so he knew I was being serious.

"Fine, I will. I don't get it, though."

"You don't have to fucking get it. You just have to put his name on the goddamn guest list. That's not too hard for you to understand, is it?"

Jasper's face fell and I knew I had gone too far.

"Shit, Jazz, I'm sorry. I…I don't know what's wrong with me, but I shouldn't act it out on you." I stepped closer to him, spreading my arms as a peace-offering.

He closed the distance and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly. "It's okay. You're probably nervous about tonight, that's only normal. But everything will be fine, I'm sure of that." He rested his head on top of mine. "Come on, Bells. They're waiting for you to do the sound check."

I nodded against his chest, but didn't really want to let go of him. As excited I had been about the release party the past weeks, as nervous and anxious I was feeling now. Besides that, I was frustrated about the interview I had had with Edward. The fact that we had gotten along really well, and I couldn't do anything about it was extremely annoying_. Sure, assume Edward actually feels the same about you._

I finally let go of Jasper and walked out of the backstage area, towards the stage. The sound technician was already waiting there and the sound check started. I had no idea what had actually been wrong with the audio this afternoon, and I didn't really care either. Apparently, everything was fixed and that was all I needed to know. Fifty minutes later the sound check was done, and I was left to the mercy of the girls.

"I'm so excited!" Alice clapped her hands and jumped from her left foot to her right and back again. "Tonight is going to be a blast! I have bought the most awesome outfit _ever _for you."

I chuckled because she said that about everything she had ever bought me. Alice always thought a great outfit was the key to a great evening. She ushered me into my dressing room, where Rose was already waiting. She greeted me with a hug, before Alice claimed my attention again, carrying a clothing bag.

"Look, Bells!" She zipped the bag open and an incredibly short dress came into view.

"Oh. My. God. Alice! I'll be wearing that on a stage, you know, like one and a half meter above everyone else. I plan on giving one hell of a show tonight, but not _that_ kind of show."

Rose laughed. "She does have a point, Alice."

Alice rolled her eyes, shaking her head after. "You'll be wearing tights underneath it." She looked at us as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "What am I? Your pimp?"

I smiled at Alice apologetically. "It's a great dress, Alice. Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah." She smiled at me, letting me know we were good.

"Dress or make-up first?" I asked, looking from Alice to Rose.

"Food first, then make-up, then dress." Rose decided. "The make-up needs to be done before you put on the dress to avoid stains on your outfit and I need you to eat before I put all that make-up on you or it'll be ruined."

Alice nodded in agreement and we headed out to the venue's cafeteria. Emmett, Jasper and the guys that were in my live band were already sitting there and we joined their table. There were a few other people at the table next to them, probably employees from the venue.

"Finally, Bells!" Emmett said as soon as I sat down. "We've been waiting for you. Now we can finally eat."

I rolled my eyes at him. "You could have started without me, you know."

Emmett pouted and looked at Jasper. "He wouldn't let me."

Everybody at our table laughed at Emmett's pouting. "You're such a baby, Em. I can't believe you're actually older than me." I got up from my chair again. "But, let's get you some food."

There was a lot of noise as the chairs were being pushed away from the table and everyone got up to get food.

I dug into some dish with chicken and other substances of which I probably didn't want to know what it was. I added some potatoes and salad on my plate, and returned to our table. The food was edible, which was something. Usually the meals we had at venues were pretty poor. Sometimes we decided to head out for dinner because the food was _that_ disgusting.

Emmett went to fill his plate for a second time, while the rest of us had eaten only one-third of their dinner. By the time we were done, he had probably consumed a few small animals all by himself. I looked at him and he shrugged.

"What? I still have to grow."

I laughed. "Sure, like you can get any taller."

He patted his stomach. "I can grow here."

"You won't be much of a use as a bodyguard anymore then." Jasper commented, while he pushed his plate away.

"I could jump and crush anyone who'd want to attack Bella." Emmett defended himself.

Rose snorted. "Yeah, right, you'd bounce right off of them."

Emmett didn't seem able to come up with a good comeback and everyone but him laughed.

After dessert, everyone went their own way, each of us having our own things to do before tonight. Back in my dressing room, I was put down in a chair so I was at a proper level for Rose to do my make-up. Alice decided to put on some music and was dancing through the room. I laughed at her and Rose scolded me for moving while she was applying some basic layer of make-up.

"Can I…Uh..." I closed my mouth again, not sure if I should actually proceed with what I was about to say.

Rose took a look at me, then smiled knowingly. "Spill it, B."

Alice stopped her weird dancing moves and sat down on the desk with Rose's make-up stuff. I shifted uncomfortably when they both looked at me, obviously waiting for me to speak up.

"Well… There's this guy."

They didn't seem surprised – quite the contrary even – as they both smiled widely at me.

Alice jumped up from the desk. "Ha! I knew it!" She held out her hand to Rose. "Come on, pay up."

Rose shook her head. "Nope, we both said that it was about a guy. It depends on what's going on with the guy."

"Wait. Are you guys taking bets about…How the fuck did you two even know?" I looked from Alice to Rose and back again. They were grinning at me and I already felt my annoyance with them fading.

"Jasper." They answered in unison, like that explained it all.

I raised an eyebrow to tell them I needed more of an explanation than just that.

"You're not distracting us, Bells." Rose was giving me that knowing smile again. "Tell us about the guy. You know you want to." She practically sang the last sentence.

I felt my cheeks burn up and I bit my lip nervously. "There isn't a lot to tell, you know." The girls both stayed silent and I groaned. I hid my face in my hands before I continued. "He interviewed me today."

Alice let out a soft, somewhat disappointed sounding 'oh' and I felt a hand on my shoulder. "I see how that might make things more…complicated."

"That's the understatement of the year, Al. He's a fucking journalist, he writes about people like me. I even let some stuff slip during the interview."

Rose gasped. "You mean ab-"

"No! God, no." I sighed deeply. "Just some personal things. Like how dad listens to Deep Purple."

Rose and Alice both laughed at that, and when I thought about it, I had to laugh a little too. "Well, I guess that's not too much personal information." I smirked. "I know his dad likes to play air guitar." I blushed again when two pairs of eyes stared at me. "We talked. It didn't really feel like an interview, you know. I think I asked him as many questions as he asked me. He… He's a musician, too."

Alice ruffled my hair. "I think our little Bella here has got a little crush!"

I blushed while Rose grabbed Alice's hand off of my head. "Do you mind? I still have to work with that."

Alice smiled apologetically at Rose and I was glad they seemed to have forgotten about my situation for a moment. They were great friends, but they overwhelmed me a bit with their responses every now and then.

Rose leaned over me, continuing to apply make-up on my face. "You do realise you can't… you know?"

I let out a sigh. "Yep. Trust me, _I know_."

Rose's voice sounded softer when she continued. "I'm sorry. I guess that's another one to put on the list of downsides, huh?"

I wanted to nod at her, but Rose held my face still with her hand. "No moving. Close your eyes."

I did as she told me, and felt her apply make-up on my eyelids. Without warning, someone brushed through my hair, pulling out several hairs when it got stuck in a knot.

"Ouch! There's a person attached to the hair, you know."

"Oops, sorry." Alice apologised as she continued brushing knots out of my hair, getting it ready for Rose. "Tell me more about the guy."

"Alice, I-"

"I know, but we can still talk about him, can't we?"

I smiled slightly, knowing I couldn't resist her anyway. "Sure. His name is Edward and he works for Revolver Magazine."

"Edward? Isn't that a name for an old guy?" Rose commented, while she started epilating my eyebrows.

"Sure, _Rosalie_."

Alice giggled and I could hear the smile in Rose's voice as well when she spoke up again. "Okay, I get your point. Continue."

"He is fucking hot. Seriously, one of the best looking guys I've _ever_ seen."

"No wonder you're crazy about him after seeing him for thirty minutes only. You can open your eyes again."

I opened them again, only to see Alice and Rose both leaning over me. "I think we should go with black smokey eyes, what do you think?"

Rose nodded in agreement and looked over to where the dress was hanging. "It would match the dress best."

I had expected them to continue making choices about accessories or something, as that's what they usually did. Unfortunately, I wasn't that lucky this time.

"So," Alice placed her hand on her waist and tapped her foot impatiently. Count on Alice to go cliché. "is that all you're going to tell us?"

"I…I really don't know that much about him. Like you said, we only talked for thirty minutes." I paused for a moment and bit my lip. "I invited him to come here tonight. I-I don't know if he'll actually be here, but… Shit, I'm so fucking nervous. It's my album release party and I want to enjoy this, but I'm nervous whether some guy is attending or not. I'm so fucking screwed!"

Alice and Rose were staring at me wide-eyed. Probably wondering why the hell I was behaving the way I did. I didn't really have an answer to that myself, because looking at it objectively, Edward was just a guy I met today. So what if he was nice and gorgeous?

I laughed nervously. "Sorry, guys. I'm… Ugh. I'm sorry." I shifted in my seat when they just kept staring at me, neither of them saying a word. I looked away, staring down at my hands which were resting in my lap.

I looked up again when I felt a hand on my upper arm. "Bella," Alice said "if you two hit really it off like that, I'm sure things will work out some way or another."

I raised my eyebrows, eying her sceptically. Alice's lips pulled into a smile and I relaxed a little.

"You know I'm always right about these things."

Funnily enough, she was always right indeed. I allowed myself to believe her if only for tonight, and I took a deep breath to calm myself down. "Thanks, Al."

"You've got it pretty bad, B." Rose stated, smiling at me while she grabbed a bottle of foundation of the desk, "Now, let's turn you into a rock star."

**A/N: 40 reviews so far, how about making it 50 after 5 chapters? Sounds like a nice average, doesn't it? ;) **

**Let me know if you want a teaser of the next chapter; the concert.**


	6. Chapter 6: Showtime

**A/N: Updating a day earlier than usual, don't you just love me? :) I promise I won't bug you very long but let me just say; whoa! Almost 2,500 hits, 50+ reviews, 35+ favs and 65+ alerts. I love you, guys :) Also, thanks to the ones who added me to their fav authors/author alerts.**

**Thanks to **_**MsSailorman**_** for beta'ing.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Showtime

_Shit. I can't do this. I can't fucking do this. _

_Shut it, Bella. You're freaking out. You can do this. You can do this._

I repeated it over and over in my head, but found myself unable to believe it. I paced through my dressing room, too nervous to sit down. I raised my arm to run a hand through my hair, but realised just in time it would mess up what Rose had done with it. So instead, I bit my lip hard and within seconds, I tasted the blood.

I walked over to the little table next to the love seat in the room and grabbed one of the soda cans. I opened it quickly, before taking a big gulp of coke and my throat didn't feel so dry anymore.

_You can do this. You can do this._

A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts and after a 'come in', Jasper entered, carrying a sheet of paper with him.

"Here," He handed the paper over to me and I noticed it was a set list. "a copy of the set list. There are several on stage, of course, but I figured you might wanted to have a look at it before you go on."

"Thanks, Jazz." This time I couldn't stop myself in time and ran a hand through my hair as my eyes darted over the set list. "What's with the black marking?"

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you. There will be pyros at the front of the stage which will be used during the marked songs. Eight seconds before the pyros will be used, you will see these little lights go on, so you'll know to take a few steps back."

_Great, besides worrying about my performance, I now have to worry about not getting lit on fire too._

My worry must have shown on my face, because Jasper quickly continued, "If the pyro technician thinks you're still too close, he won't activate them."

"'Kay. Good…I'm freaking out, Jazz." I confessed, letting a deep breath escape me.

Jasper smiled at me before he took me into his arms, holding me close. "It's going to be fine. You'll do great. You always do."

"But what if they don't like it, don't like the new songs?"

"Bella, it's the best album you've released so far. They will like it. Besides, they're your fans. They love Isabella Swan." I relaxed a little and Jasper pulled back to look at me. "And you look smoking hot, B. My girl definitely knows how to dress you."

I laughed and let go of Jasper. "Thanks, Jazz."

"You good?"

"Yeah, I think I am… I should warm up."

"Okay," Jasper smiled at me again before turning and walking to the door, "I'll just leave you to it, then."

"No, wait!" Jasper stood still, one of his hands resting on the doorknob and he raised his eyebrows at me questioningly. "I'll come with you. I'll only be freaking out here, all by myself."

I let my eyes wonder through the room for a moment to see if I was forgetting anything. I didn't think I was, so I walked over to Jasper with the set list still clutched in my hand and together we headed towards the other dressing room.

In the background, I could hear the supporting act play. I honestly didn't know which band was warming up the audience tonight, and I felt ashamed for a moment. I hadn't even taken the time to meet them, whoever they were. Had I become that arrogant? I shook my head, deciding not to think about that now. I had other things on my mind.

_Will Edward be there?_

_Stop it. It doesn't matter. Tonight isn't about him._

Right. Jasper opened the door of the other dressing room for me, and I entered it. At first I only saw people I didn't know, until my eyes fell on my brother, his body towering over everyone else's. I hurried over to the familiar faces, Jasper following closely behind me. I wrapped my arm around Emmett from behind and he looked over his shoulder to see who it was.

"Hey, little sis! Excited?" He turned in my arms, putting one arm over my shoulder, and grinned at me.

"I think nervous describes my feelings better right now."

Before Emmett could start his pep talk, which I knew he was about to give judging the expression on his face, Alice joined us. "I just went to see the guys at the door and a certain guy picked up his guest pass." She said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

I blushed, and prayed to whoever was up there that Emmett would ignore what Alice had said. Unfortunately, I must have done a lot of things wrong in my life, because I wasn't that lucky.

"What guy?" My brother asked, his grip at my upper arm tightening a little.

I cleared my throat and hoped I sounded casual when I answered him. "Oh, one of the interviewers. You know, the guy that was interviewing me when you brought me breakfast."

"I thought there wouldn't be any press tonight?" He eyed me suspiciously. I glared at Alice and she looked guilty, mouthing a 'sorry' at me.

I shrugged, trying very hard to stay casual about it. "Change of plans. It's no big deal, Em."

"Alright. If you say so, little B." Emmett let go of me and excused himself, walking over to Jasper. _Shit._

"Fuck, Alice! What did you do that for?" I nudged her arm with my elbow and glared at her again. "He's my brother. Any mentioning of any guys is off-limits."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I wasn't thinking."

"Obviously." I rolled my eyes at her, then laughed softly because it was so typically Alice. "You suck, Al."

She smiled at me sheepishly, and then her smile suddenly turned into a full grin.

_O-oh, that never ends well._

"But… he's here! I'm so exciteeed!" She clapped her hands and did her trademark excitement hopping on her feet. "I have to tell Rose."

"Alice!" I groaned. "If you two are going to be all smiles and cheerful about this, I'm pretty sure Em or Jazz are gonna' notice."

Her excitement seemed to fade away as quickly as it had come and she pouted at me. "You're no fun."

"Alice…You know I can't go there anyway. I just can't." I sighed deeply. "Anyway, I have to warm up my vocal chords or I'll sound awful."

She nodded and I walked over to a quiet corner of the room. I mentally separated myself from the room and took my time for the vocal exercises. I went over the most important parts of all songs, satisfied when every single one seemed to go fine. When I focussed on the people around me again, Jasper was leaning against the wall a few feet away from me, watching me with a grin on his face.

"What?" I asked, not knowing what the stare was about.

"See, everything went well. You're gonna' do fine." Jasper pushed himself off the wall, and took a cup of tea from one of the nearby tables. "Your lemon tea, Madame."

"How long till-"

"Ten minutes."

I let out a surprised 'oh', unaware that much time had passed, and accepted the tea from him. I took a careful sip first, testing the temperature before deciding it wasn't too hot and quickly finished the cup. "Everything ready?" I asked as I put the cup back on the table.

Jasper nodded and gave me a comforting smile. He placed his hand at my shoulder, softly pushing me into the direction of the door. "Come on, let's get to the stage."

I let Jasper guide me and took a deep breath. I shivered involuntarily, my nerves back all over again. Jasper seemed to sense it as he gently caressed my back. My stomach clenched and I was certain I could throw up any moment. As if that wasn't enough yet, my bladder was practically screaming at me to run to the toilets. I knew it only was nerves, that it would be over when I got on stage, but I still didn't like it.

I hadn't realised Jasper had stopped walking until I felt the warmth of his hand disappear from my back. Sam, the live guitarist that had been touring with me for a while now, waved me over to him and the other two guys, Paul, the drummer, and Embry, the bassist.

I got over to them and we did our traditional group hug, wishing each other good luck. A few moments later, the guys went out on the stage to play the intro and the crowd went crazy as they saw three shadows move over the darkened stage.

A sound technician walked up to me, handing me my ear monitors, while he fumbled around at the back of my dress, clipping the receiver of my microphone on the belt I was wearing. I plugged the ears in as the first notes of the intro filled the venue. I let my hands glide over my dress for a moment, checking if everything was still in place.

I turned my head to look over my shoulder for a moment, only to see Alice and Rose grinning at me with their thumbs up. I let out a nervous giggle and took a deep breath, slowly letting the air escape my lungs again. Jasper walked up to me and handed me my microphone. I mouthed 'thanks' at him and after a last glance at Alice and Rose, I walked out on the stage.

I was glad my ear monitors filtered out a lot of noise around me, because the screams when the audience spotted me were fucking loud. A few girls on the front row were waving a 'we love you, Isabella' banner around and I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face.

I placed my microphone in its stand and sang the first lines. I felt the nerves disappear like a heap of snow in the sun when I sang on-key and I knew this evening was going to be a blast. I leaned forward a little to shake hands with a few of the persons in the front row when I didn't have to sing for a few measures.

As usual, the concert was all one big blur for me. There were so many impressions that it was impossible to store them all in my head. Pyros, fans singing along, having fun with the band, it all equalled too many impressions.

When I announced the last song, I had to admit I felt a little sad. I knew one hour and forty-five minutes was long enough for my body, especially after the adrenaline would wear off, but at the same time I didn't want to come down from the high I had during gigs.

After the last song and taking a bow with the band, I got backstage. There Jasper, Alice, Rose and Emmett were waiting and they pulled me into a group hug.

"Disgusting! Guys, I'm all sweaty and everything." I laughed as I pulled back from them.

"We don't care. That was awesome, B!" Alice exclaimed, the others nodding in agreement.

I thanked her while Jasper handed me a towel and I wiped my face with it. "I need a drink." I grinned at my friends, knowing they'd all agree with me.

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A/N: Sorry it's a short chapter again. Next up, EPOV. Guess who will attend the after party *wink***

**As always; if you want a teaser, please say so in your review.**


	7. Chapter 7: After Party

**A/N: I'm terribly sorry for not sending out the teasers to the ones who asked for it and not replying to the reviews. I've started working on my BA thesis and my life, or what's left of it, is just crazy right now. But I promise I really do appreciate every review and have read each and every one of them! **

**To make up for the missing teasers; if you want a teaser of the next chapter and have left a review on chapter 6, I'll make it an extra long one for you, sound good? Yes? Deal.**

**Thanks to **_**MsSailorman**_** for beta'ing this thing.**

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Chapter 7: After Party

_Whoa, what a show._

And I wasn't even talking about the pyrotechnics and other visual effects.

Sure, I had seen some live videos of Bella on YouTube and a few of those TV show appearances where she had to do play back, but I was pretty amazed by her performance. For some reason, I found it hard to believe the Bella I had met earlier today was the same Bella as I had just witnessed on stage. This morning, she'd been stuttering and blushing when her manager wasn't around, tonight she had seemed so confident, so sure of herself. Not in an arrogant way, but more like she was simply born to do this.

The way she had moved around the stage, completely wrapping the audience around her finger with her encouragements during and in between the songs, her enthusiastic head banging when the songs were heavier... She had looked so happy and content. Also quite a different kind of Bella than the Bella that I had seen leave the record company earlier today.

Apart from that, her physical appearance had definitely added up to the whoa factor. I didn't know whether I wanted to thank the person who got her into that little dress or to hit them. I did feel like thanking god for at least making her wear tights or I probably would have gone crazy. My head was filled with highly inappropriate thoughts about getting those tights off of her, and I realised thanking god for the object of those thoughts maybe wasn't entirely fitting.

I was slightly disappointed when Bella announced the last song for the evening. I had enjoyed myself a lot better than I would have expected.

_Yes, you did. By having dirty thoughts about her, you perv._

After Bella had left the stage, I decided to hang around at the venue for a while since I had no other place to be anyway. I got myself a beer at the bar and leaned against a wall, observing the people around me. I rolled my eyes and shook my head in unbelief when a fan girl wearing a shitty self-made 'Isabella rocks' t-shirt walked by. You could honestly meet the weirdest people at concerts.

There was a big crowd forming at the merchandise stand, probably a lot of fans who wanted to get their hands on a copy of Bella's new album right away, seeing this was the first time it was available for buying.

"You must be Edward."

I turned into the direction of the voice, and spotted a small girl just a few feet away from me. Her eyes were sparkling with joy and she somehow reminded me of a pixie.

"Yes, I am." I cocked my eyebrow at her questioningly, wondering how she knew who I was. And who she was, for that matter.

She smiled at me. "She was _definitely_ right about you. Follow me."

I emptied my glass and dropped it in a dispenser. I eyed her for a moment but she didn't seem to be one of the crazy ones. She tapped her foot impatiently before turning and walking away from me. I had no idea why but I did as she told me and followed her. "Where are we going?" I had to do my best to keep up with her as she walked fast and her petite frame made it easier for her to move through the crowd.

She glanced over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at me as if it was obvious what was going on. I was most definitely confused now. But by the time we got to the security guards at the backstage entrance, I didn't even care anymore. She told them 'it's okay, he's with me' and I was allowed to pass through the door.

After a few steps into the backstage area, the girl stopped walking and I halted with her. There were several people walking around us, all seemingly busy. "I'm Alice and _you_ are going to be thanking me for the rest of your life." The pixie spoke up again, a sly smile on her face as she said the latter part of the sentence.

_Maybe she is one of the crazy ones after all._

"Sure, whatever." I said, frowning and wondering what the hell was going on. "Why am I here? Not that I mind..."

"We're having an after-party. Thought I'd ask you to join us."

I laughed, wondering when she'd so much as asked me anything. She had even stated my name, not even a hint of a question mark then. I got the feeling she never asked people, more likely ordered them around.

Alice started moving again and I hurriedly followed. Even though I didn't know her at all, it was probably best to stay close to her. No way I was actually allowed to be here, at least _she_ seemed to be.

We were nearing the room where the party was going on, judging from the noise that was increasing the longer we walked. We took a turn into a hallway and Alice opened one of the doors, the music immediately getting louder.

Alice clapped her hands in what seemed to be excitement, then looked at me intently, pointing her finger at me as if she as lecturing a five year old. "Remember, you're going to be thanking me for the rest of your life." She turned and walked off, leaving me alone near the entrance of the pretty crowded room.

_Nice, Cullen. How did you get yourself into this?_

While I ran my hand through my hair, my eyes darted around the room, unsure of what to do next. I'd be crazy to leave, but I didn't know what else to do. I might be an experienced interviewer, but I wasn't familiar with the backstage stuff. Eventually, I noticed a table filled with booze and walked over to it. I had a feeling I'd need some liquid courage tonight.

After I got myself a drink, I felt a little better, knowing any situation wouldn't turn out too bad when I had a little alcohol running through my veins. Unless it turned into _a lot_ of alcohol running through my veins, but I wasn't planning on that.

With my drink in my hand, I kept standing near a wall, not mingling with the crowd. I shoved my other hand in the pocket of my jeans to keep myself from running it through my already messed up hair continuously. It was really pathetic how I didn't know what to do. I was a socially adapt person; why the fuck was I just standing here? My glass was empty in a record time and after getting rid of it, I let my eyes dart over the crowd.

I spotted the brown wavy hair just a few meters away from me, and my heartbeat fastened immediately. Shit, even my hands got all sweaty. I was _never_ nervous because of a girl. Or well, not until now, I guess. I was still debating whether I should go over to her when I realised I had lost sight of her. Fuck.

_You're such a wuss._

I quickly scanned the room again, feeling pretty fucking pathetic I wanted to see her so desperately. Then I saw her, dancing with a blond girl and having fun. I couldn't stop watching her as she practically glowed. There was something about Bella when she was having a good time. She seemed so free, joyful.

Blondie leaned into her to tell her something, but Bella seemed to ignore her. When Blondie tried again, she just laughed instead of responding and kept dancing.

"Are you checking out my girl?"

The voice startled me and I quickly tore my eyes away from Bella. Noticing the bodyguard - Emmett, was it? – standing next to me, I had to admit I was a little intimidated. Then I realised what he had asked.

_Fuck, she's his girl?_

"W-what?" I was certain shock and annoyance was written all over my face.

Emmett smiled smugly at me, then nodded over to the dancing girls. "Blondie there." Extending his hand, he offered me one of the beers he was holding.

He had no idea what a relief it was for me to hear that.

Taking the beer he offered me, I smiled back at him sincerely now I knew I had misunderstood him before, shaking my head in the process. "Nope."

"You're the guy from this afternoon, right?"

Surprised he remembered who I was, I nodded to inform him he was right.

"You're the topic of the day."

_Topic of the day? What. The. Fuck. Had I done something incredibly stupid during the interview that I was unaware of?_

Raising an eyebrow, I looked at Emmett questioningly. He took it as a sign to clarify. "First time our Bells didn't mind an interview all that much." He grinned at me, then his eyebrows turned into a frown as he seemed to realise something. "What are you doing _here_?"

"I..." I started, but then realised I had actually no idea why Alice had brought me here. "I have no idea. This girl walked up to me, told me to come with her and here I am."

He still seemed to doubt me, his eyebrows remaining in a frown. "As a journalist or as a normal person?"

Right. Of course. No personal details about Bella in the press. I sort of understood his reaction now. "Normal person." I gave him another smile, hoping it was a reassuring one.

He nodded in acceptance, looked at me for another moment before turning to watch the blond that was with Bella.

"Was that girl by any chance a tiny, dark-haired pixie?"

"Yep, that's the one. She said her name was Alice."

"Fuck."

O-oh, was I in trouble now? I really didn't want to piss Emmett off, the guy was huge. Really _huge_.

"Excuse me." He walked off to somewhere, disappearing in the crowd. Sort of at least, as his head was still clearly visible over the other people in the room.

He wasn't getting backup, was he?

_Fuck, Cullen, since when are you such a fucking chicken?_

I took a deep breath, then poured the rest of my drink down my throat.

"You came!"

I didn't need to turn around to know who that voice belonged to. I couldn't suppress the smile that spread across my face and turned around to look at her.

"Yes, I did. Great gig."

Even though I couldn't really see it in the badly lit room, I knew Bella was blushing. "Thanks." A shy smile played around her lips, before she looked away at her apparently very interesting shoes.

I chuckled at her shyness because it was so different from how she had been only a short while ago, while she was on stage. "I hope you don't mind me being here. This girl walked up to me and-"

She groaned and I wondered if she didn't want me there. Sure, she had invited me, but for the concert only. "Alice?" I nodded, not really wanting to speak up and maybe say something that would get me kicked out of here. "I hope she wasn't too... pushy. She tends to get like that."

"She wasn't. How much pushing does one need to go to an after-party, right?" I smiled at her, when it occurred to me again she hadn't responded to the mind me being here comment. "I uh . . . I could go if you want. I mean, you invited me for the concert, not-"

"It's fine, really." She smiled broadly at me, before her expression changed into the exact opposite. "Jazz will probably freak out, though. He . . . you won't write ab-" She sounded nervous, maybe a little scared even.

"No," I interrupted her, "of course not." Hoping that would tell her I meant what I said, I gave her my best reassuring smile.

When she smiled at me in return, I assumed it had worked. "Wanna' dance?"

_Fuck._

Before I could respond to her, pixie showed up again, yelling over the music. Who knew a body that small could produce that much noise.

"Let's take this party elsewhere!"


	8. Chapter 8: Guest Appearances

**A/N: I'm really sorry for taking so long to update. I have no excuse except for being extremely busy. **

**As always, thanks to **_**MsSailorman**_** for beta'ing.**

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Chapter 8: Guest Appearances

"Get up, Bells."

I groaned when for the second time in just two days, Jasper annoyed the hell out of me by pretending to be my personal alarm clock.

"Shit, Jazz. It's only . . ." I opened one eye to look at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It read 2PM and I shot up in the bed. "Fuck!" I threw the sheets off and jumped out of bed but the movement was too much for me and I felt nauseous. Groaning, I swayed on my legs for a moment, before letting myself fall back on the bed. "I won't ever, _ever_ drink again."

Jasper chuckled. "Now where did I hear that before?"

"Shut up. When do we have to leave?"

"Emmett is already waiting."

Shit, I didn't even have the time for a proper shower. I held out my hand and Jasper took it, pulling me up.

"Go freshen up while I'll take care of your stuff. We have to be at the airport in forty minutes."

I nodded and walked off to the bathroom. "Oh, and Jazz?" I turned around to look at him. "Could you-"

"I'll make sure we have some aspirins waiting for you in the car."

Oh the advantages of a great manager. "Thank you." I smiled at him the best I could in my current state and disappeared into the bathroom. I splashed water in my face but it didn't make me feel any better, which wasn't all that weird considering the amount of alcohol I had consumed last night.

What had happened last night anyway? I groaned and let my head rest in my hands for a moment. _Party. Booze._ And then my memory failed me. Shaking my head, I decided to try remembering later. I still had a plane to catch. I quickly brushed my teeth and pulled a brush through my hair to at least get the knots out. When I left the bathroom I took my toiletries with me and dumped them into my suitcase.

Jasper was busy pacing through the room, his cell attached to his ear when I returned, so I finished the packing myself. I quickly changed from my pyjamas into sweatpants and a hoodie that was two sizes too big for me but I liked it that way. By the time Jasper was done with his phone call, I was all set to leave and we quickly checked out at the hotel, heading towards the airport.

Emmett was pacing impatiently by the hotel exit. When he spotted us, his face lit up and he guided me and Jasper towards a car that was parked near-by. After we were all settled, I got out my iPod and put on my hangover playlist which didn't contain too many heavy songs. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the tainted window.

_"You are going to be thanking me for the rest of your life." Alice stated as she walked up to me._

_Rolling my eyes, I wondered what had made her say that this time. I decided to ignore it and drank the last bit of my drink. Alice said something again but I couldn't hear her over the loud music. I signalled to her I hadn't gotten what she'd said, but before she could repeat it I was being dragged off by Rose._

_Soon we were in the middle of a small dancing crowd and we joined in. I always liked dancing. It made me feel happy and most of all burden-free for a while, something that was a rare these days. I noticed how her eyes darted over to Emmett and I noticed the guy standing next to him. I guess my face had given me away because Rose was grinning at me._

_She leaned in a little so I could hear her when she spoke up, "That's him?"_

_I nodded slightly, continuing to dance in an attempt to let Rose know this conversation was over. For now, at least. I was probably going to hear forever about my little crush._

_"I have to admit, B, you've got taste."_

_I laughed. "Why thank you, Rose."_

_I tried not to think about Edward being here and for the first time today, I succeeded in it. Sort of. A little. We danced some more until I decided it was time for another drink. Of course, he was standing near the booze table._

_After a concert, my body was mostly pretty exhausted so the few drinks I had had tonight had definitely affected me. "You came!" I said excitedly, perhaps too excited. I blamed the alcohol. Edward turned around with a huge grin on his face._

_He complimented me on my performance and I blushed. Feeling very self-conscious all of a sudden, I stared down at the shoes Alice had picked out for me. Apparently, that amused him because he chuckled._

_Then he suddenly started babbling about how he could go if I didn't want him there and I wondered for a moment if he didn't really want to be here, but only saw this as an opportunity to get to know even more about Isabella Swan. When he said he wouldn't, I believed him. But a little voice in the back of my head told me I was trusting him based on nothing more than a feeling, and we all knew how that had turned out last time._

Emmett nudged my arm and I opened my eyes, groaning at the light of the bright autumn sun. "Come on, little B. We're here."

_At least, I know a bit more of what happened yesterday evening._ If my mind wasn't playing any tricks with me.

I got out of the car, putting on my sunglasses – both against the way too bright sun and being recognized – and waited until Jasper and Emmett had gotten our bags out. We walked towards the airport hall and Jasper checked us in. He informed us Alice and Rose had gone ahead a flight earlier already but that we would all be meeting up at my father's house again the day after tomorrow.

In three days, the tour would start. Until then, I would stay at my dad's place, in a little town called Forks. It was the town where we had all grown up together and even though I was annoyed with a lot of things about Forks, there was no place that felt like home as much as that crazy little town did. I smiled, thinking of Forks and my dad, and I was glad I got to be there for a few more days. Performing was great, touring however wasn't always that much fun.

The smile disappeared when I thought about the upcoming tour. I would have a few weeks of sticking to a healthy diet and a lot of physical exercising ahead of me, I'd be missing many hours of sleep I actually needed, and being around the same people for weeks mostly turned out in a few fights as well. And the travelling from one venue to the next was quite possible the most boring thing ever, especially once we were on the road for a while already. So yeah, it's wasn't _all_ fun. At least, I had my friends with me, so I wouldn't have to miss them. I'd still miss my home and my parents, but I could deal with that.

Jasper took the lead and Emmett and I followed him obediently. I did my best to not gain any attention by tripping over anyone's bags or suitcases, which was quite a hard thing for me to achieve seeing how clumsy I was sometimes. Luckily, Emmett was holding me by my arm because I managed to trip over my own feet anyway but he made sure I didn't end up making out with the airport floor. I gave him a thankful smile and we continued to follow Jasper around.

When we had passed security and all that, we still had to wait for over an hour before we could board our plane. We confiscated a row of chairs and I sat in between Emmett and Jasper. Immediately, I slumped down in my seat and pulled the hoodie over my head, hiding from the world the best I could. Emmett seemed to know I wasn't up for any talking or joking at the moment because he didn't start his usual cheerful waiting-at-the-airport chatting.

Jasper was already busy with a phone call. The days before we went on tour were crazy for him. I felt guilty about moping over my tour diet while a lot of people - not just Jasper, Emmett, Rose and Alice, but the guys of the band, the people working at the venues, our own technicians, and god knows who else - all had to work and organize everything so _I_, Isabella Swan, could run over a stage and sing a few notes.

I was beginning to feel worse with every second that passed. Not just because of my egoism, but also because my headache, which was becoming worse quickly. Emmett must have noticed something was up because he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me towards him. Resting my head on his shoulder, I closed my eyes and dozed off into a light sleep.

I knew it was only a dream, but I suddenly felt a lot better when my favourite journalist made a guest appearance.

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**A/N: Shortest chapter ever, I know. That why I'll make it up by posting chapter 9 in a few minutes!**


	9. Chapter 9: Home Sweet Home

**A/N: And on we go…**

**Thanks to MsSailorman for beta'ing.**

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Chapter 9: Home Sweet Home

"Hi, Bells." Charlie, our dad and Chief of Police in Forks, greeted me and patted my shoulder. He was never really one for showing his emotions, but I knew he was glad to see me anyway.

"Em." Dad gave him an awkward half guy-hug and the look on Emmett's face told me he was feeling slightly uncomfortable. I couldn't keep myself from chuckling at the sight in front of me. Not that he and Charlie didn't get along or anything, but it was just weird when dad tried to show any displays of affection. "Well, let's go inside, I bet you guys are tired from travelling and all."

I wanted to grab my bags but both Charlie and Emmett were faster and carried both my and Emmett's luggage inside. I followed shortly behind them, entering Charlie's house. Shortly after I was born, our parents had divorced. Renee, our mother, was never really the type for small towns and Forks was _definitely_ a small town. She had moved to Phoenix, Arizona, taking Emmett and me with her for a while but we both kept whining about wanting to go back to Forks. Luckily, there hadn't been any problems between our parents about that, as mom and dad still got along pretty well.

We all made our way up the stairs and Charlie and Emmett put my bags down on the bed in my room. Without any comments, they both left me to myself again, probably heading over to Emmett's room.

I let myself fall on the bed and closed my eyes. At first, I was only having thoughts about the upcoming tour, but soon I found myself wondering about Edward again. Sighing in annoyance, I shook my head and got up to start unpacking my bags. I wouldn't allow myself to think about him. I would probably never see him again.

I threw my dirty clothes onto different piles, sorting them by colour, and took the first bunch to the bathroom when I was done, yelling at Emmett through his door that if he'd hurried I would wash his clothes along with my laundry. He showed up with a pile as big as mine. I probably would be doing laundry all day.

Not that I minded. Mostly I enjoyed everyday life a lot, probably because my life was far from ordinary. I went back to my room after turning on the washing machine and decided to start packing for the tour. I got my notebook out of its bag and opened the checklist Jasper and I had made a while ago, when touring became a regular thing for me.

Reopening the suitcase I had used before and throwing it back on my bed again, I began gathering the things I would be needing on tour. I hadn't even packed the first ten things on the list, before I sat down next to the suitcase. I stared ahead of me, not really seeing anything. Subconsciously, my fingers started playing with the bed sheets and I bit my lip hard. Fuck. _I really am completely fucked._ I missed Edward. _How fucking pathetic to miss a guy you barely even know._

"Bells?" Charlie's voice sounded muffled through the door.

"Yeah? Come in."

Charlie opened the door a little and poked his head in. "Em and I were thinking of ordering pizza. You fine with that?"

"Sure," I nodded "the usual for me."

Charlie just nodded in response and closed the door again. I put the suitcase I'd been packing aside, not feeling like continuing it right now. Instead, I decided to take a short nap, knowing I'd wake up from Emmett when the pizza guy arrived anyway. My brother was impossible when it came to his food. It pretty much turned him into a caveman.

I lay down on the bed with a smile on my face when I felt my body relax immediately. Nothing felt as good as your own bed. No place like home, _definitely_ true.

_After Alice had yelled to go party somewhere else, we all left the venue and gone off to a club near-by. Rose immediately dragged me over to the dance floor and we continued our dancing as before. A top40 dance song was blasting from the speakers and I could feel myself become one with the beat, losing myself in the music._

_Two songs later, I decided I was in the dying need of a drink and headed over to the bar. I instantly looked eyes with Edward, who was sitting on one of the bar stools. His green eyes were staring at me so intently, but I shook my head and told myself I was getting delusional from the booze._

_I made my way over to him, leaning over the bar beside him to gain the bartender's attention. The hot looking guy came over pretty fast and flashed me a flirtatious smile._

"_What can I get you, babe?"_

_I almost snorted but instead ordered a gin tonic. When the bartender handed me my drink, he winked at me and I refrained myself from rolling my eyes. _Never get the bartender on your bad side, right?

_Once I had my drink, I decided I could probably face Edward. I turned to him and smiled._

"_Hey." I greeted him, nipping my drink._

_He gave me his crooked-smile and I felt my knees go weak. "Hey."_

Just the alcohol. It's _just_ the alcohol.

"_You never really answered my question."_

_His smile turned into a frown as he obviously didn't know what I meant. He opened his mouth to probably ask me what I was talking about, but I answered before the question was asked._

"_Dancing." I blurted out. "If you wanted to dance with me?"_

_He smiled again, then leaned forward to give his answer. "I don't really dance." I could feel his hot breath on my neck and I got goose bumps all over my body. I shivered involuntarily and I felt my heartbeat speed up._

_I swallowed and decided to throw in a little flirting. I wasn't ever going to see the guy again, I might as well have a little fun, right? Even if it wouldn't even lead to a fabulous night anyway. Because I was completely sure it would be fabulous._

_I leaned into him, placing my hand on his thigh and whispered into his ear. "I can't convince you otherwise?"_

_When he spoke up again, his voice sounded even huskier than I remembered it being. "Maybe, maybe not."_

"Pizza is here!" Emmett yelled while I heard him stomp over to the front door.

I shot up on the bed, remembering my dream. Was it even a dream, or did that really happen? I knew it probably could have happened, but that's not of any use right now. Ugh, did I mention I hated alcohol?

I'd really have to question Alice tomorrow.

When I checked my e-mail the next morning, the first one I noticed in particular was an e-mail Jasper had forwarded to me, with 'E. Cullen – Revolver Magazine' as subject line. I noticed it contained an attachment and I was surprised Edward had gotten the article done so fast.

Deciding to wait with reading it, I took my notebook with me when I walked downstairs to fix myself breakfast. I placed it on the kitchen table and made myself a sandwich. After a quick check if I was alone in the house, I opened the forwarded e-mail again and instantly checked the original message Edward had sent. I was slightly disappointed when it was a standard message, then reminded myself I was being ridiculous. I clicked the attached file and began reading it while eating my sandwich.

The intro was mostly filled with some facts about the release date, the upcoming tour and all that, so I skipped it. Jasper would always check whether the info was correct or not.

_Unlike previous albums, Swan wrote most of the songs herself. "I've been writing songs for a couple of years now but when I got signed I realised my songs weren't good enough to be recorded. Now, with all the co-writing I'd been doing on my previous albums, I figured out how to make a song sound better, more fluently. So I ended up editing a few songs I had already written before and writing some new material and before I knew it, I had enough tracks to fill an album and I got them to the label. After some adjustments by real songwriters, they were ready to be recorded."__ One of the most remarkable things about Isabella Swan's new record is the more rocky sound. Swan: "__I think that this album has more of a rocky edge because I wrote it myself and I've grown up to rock music. My dad is a huge fan of bands like Deep Purple." When asked what her favourite song of her upcoming release is, she smiles and answers: "I really love all the songs, otherwise I wouldn't have put them on the album. I don't want anything released that I'm not a hundred percent satisfied with."_

_When later that evening, Isabella Swan hits the stage at the album release party, there is nothing left of the almost shy woman I met that morning. She dominates the stage with her appearance and has the crowd going within seconds. As if the rock star isn't hot enough on her own, the fans got a spectacular pyrotechnics show as extra bonus. Swan presents the entire album - which is well-received by the audience judging from the line at the merchandise stand after the concert – but also adds a few of her classics in the encore._

_One thing is for sure; Isabella Swan is not only a talented musician, she certainly knows how to rock the stage and proves to be a natural first class entertainer._

I was blushing, then shook my head as if the movement could get rid of my red cheeks. I had read articles like that more often, but knowing Edward had actually written this made it different than the others. It made me happy he wrote positively about the new album and the release party.

_He said I'm hot._

Grinning like a teenager, I shut the notebook down and headed back upstairs for my morning routine. Just when I got out of the bathroom, Emmett jogged up the stairs in a sports outfit. He was all sweaty and I guessed he had went for a morning jog.

"Morning, big bro." I greeted him cheerfully, still on a good mood after reading Edward's article.

Emmett grinned at me and I knew he was planning on something. "Morning, little B." He opened his arms and wanted to pull me into a hug.

"Gross, no! You're all sweaty!"

Quickly I passed him and darted off the stairs, but he ran after me and caught up with me fast. His arms wrapped around my stomach from behind and I shrieked but giggled right after.

"Payback time for all those sweaty hugs after those concerts of yours." Emmett's fingers tickled my side and I giggled even louder, like I was back to being a six-year old again.

I knew struggling against him was wasted energy but I did it anyway, begging him to stop in the meanwhile. Never really one to give up easily, it took a few minutes before Emmett let go of me. I shoved him in the shoulder and mock glared at him. "You're such an ass."

"Love you, too, sis." He smirked at me, then headed for the stairs. "Bathroom free?"

I nodded in reply. "Go ahead. I'm heading over to Alice's."

When Emmett left my sight, I got out and decided to simply walk over to Alice's place. The streets were quiet, not that a lot of traffic was to be expected in Forks, but most people had probably gone to work already.

Just a few blocks from Alice's house, there was one car that neared me from the opposite direction. It took me a moment to realise who that car belonged to, but the moment I did, my breath got stuck in my throat and my hands got sweaty.

_Fuck. Of all people, he's the one I have to run into?_

When the car got closer and I got a better look at the driver, my suspicions got confirmed.

_Mike _fucking_ Newton._

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_**A/N: Sorry for leaving it there!**_

**It's probably a bit of a stretch, but if you guys manage to hit 90 reviews in total before Tuesday, I'll post the next chapter on Tuesday or Wednesday, and you're going to like chapter 10, I promise! Or well, at least I **_**think**_** so, but I suspect if you want some E/B you will…**

**If not, you're just going to have to wait till the 29****th****, so go leave me that review. Favourite parts, lines?**

**I've also created a beta reader profile here, btw. So if you need a beta, feel free to check it out :)**


	10. Chapter 10: Opportunities

**A/N: Can I just say that you guys are fuck awesome? 90 reviews, yay! From next week on, I'm going to try to get back to my Monday updating schedule but I can't promise anything because I have exams coming up.**

**Thanks to **_**MsSailorman**_** for beta'ing.**

**As promised, here's some E/B for you…**

Chapter 10: Opportunities

I was glad when I read the email the main editor, Aro, had sent me. Bella and her management had approved the article and it would be published soon. In my own opinion, I hadn't written anything that could be considered too personal but I couldn't know for sure until we got the okay from them.

I leaned back in my chair and relaxed a little. I took a moment to enjoy the feeling of satisfaction, then continued with the other emails that awaited my reply. Apparently Aro wanted me to write a CD review. He apologised because he knew I didn't do a lot of those anymore, but the guy who was meant to review it had fallen sick and wouldn't be able to make it before tomorrow's deadline.

I replied to him I would have the time to listen and write today, and within minutes Aro had sent me a download link to get the album. While my notebook downloaded and unpacked the file, I decided to fix myself a large cup of coffee.

My flight back had been delayed and after hours of waiting at the airport, it had been nearly dawn when I had finally arrived at my apartment. Then, I stayed up another few hours because I wanted the article to be done as quickly as possible and I had finally submitted it after two hours of simply staring at the screen, while letting my thoughts drift off to Bella.

My internal clock was still messed up from the weird sleeping pattern I had the last few days, and I had only just woken up while it was 2PM already. It would take a few more days before I had a regular schedule going again, but it wasn't an unusual occurrence with a job like mine.

While the coffee was brewing – yeah, I liked my coffee old style – I decided on a bowl of cereal for brunch and headed back into my home office, as I called it. Mostly just because it had a desk and enough room on it to put my notebook there. It didn't really look like an office, because three out of the four walls – the fourth wall being the one with the windows, otherwise I would have used that one too - were stacked with CD's, but as writing about music actually _was_ my job, it fitted.

My notebook pinged, signalling a new email had found its way into my inbox. I sat down in my chair and opened the window of my email manager. It was another one from Aro.

_Someone is active today._

'I'm considering emailing Swan's management to ask if we could do one of our 'On The Road With...' specials with her. Don't know if they'll agree, but if so, you in?'

I almost choked on the cereal I'd just shoved into my mouth and reread Aro's email. Yep, he really asked me to join Bella on her tour if her management agreed.

_Fuck, yes._

_Don't get your hopes up. Why would they agree? She never does things like this._

_Well, you don't know until you ask, right?_

'Good luck with that. But yeah, count me in.'

I went back to the kitchen to get my coffee and when I returned Aro had replied again.

'Awesome. I'll email them right away.'

After brunch and a quick shower, I spent the next hour listening to the album I had to review today and spent another thirty minutes finding information on the band and writing up the review. I looked over it one more time before sending it to Aro.

'Here's that review.

Any word from her management yet?'

'Thanks, Ed. Knew I could count on you.

Got a reply, saying they'd check with her but couldn't make any guarantees yet.'

I hadn't expected any other reply, but I felt rather impatient about it. If it was a yes, I would have to known soon because it would be a last-minute thing, and I would have little time to pack and make arrangements.

_Sure, your impatience has nothing to do with the fact you'd be touring with Bella. _

_Fine, that has everything to do with it._

I ran my hand through my hair nervously, my thoughts returning to Bella for the zillionth time that day. I had to admit to myself she fascinated me. Her dark wavy hair, her chocolate brown eyes, the way she had been moving on the dance floor, I couldn't get it out of my mind. And honestly, I didn't really want to.

But thinking about it, how likely would it be that I ever saw her again? Or, well, that was before Aro had emailed me about his idea to ask her for our 'On The Road With...' item. Now, I felt like praying to god to _please_ have her say yes. It was fucking pathetic.

My notebook pinged again and I launched up in my chair, almost knocking over the coffee mug on my desk in the process. I checked my inbox quickly and a feeling of disappointed ran through me when it wasn't Aro who had e-mailed me but it was an email without subject line and from an unknown sender waiting for me. Probably spam, but I opened it anyway.

'Would you be the one to tour with me?

BS.'

_Holy fuck._

_She'd sent me an email. Oh. My. Fucking. God._

Taking a moment, I did an internal happy dance.

_Fuck, Cullen, what are you being all girly about? She sent you an email, now fucking reply._

Right. I clicked the reply button and quickly typed a response.

'Yes, I believe my editor wants me to.

EC.'

I hit 'send' and tapped the desk nervously with my fingers, waiting if she would reply or not. When I heard another ping, I didn't think I had ever felt so relieved before. Silently I thanked her that it had only taken her a minute.

'So you'd be touring with us, and then... you'll write an article, blog, or what?'

'Blog. It's an online thing that should be updated regularly, but parts of it might get published in the hard copy magazine as well. Unless you wouldn't want that?'

'Alright. That sounds fine by me, Cullen. Start packing ;)'

I stared at my screen for a moment, rereading the email a few times. I hadn't fully recovered from my shock yet, when I got Aro's email.

'They agreed. You better get ready soon, they expect you to join them tomorrow morning. I'll book the flight for you and text you later with the details.

Happy touring.'

Right before I wanted to shut down my email manager, it pinged another time. The unknown address again.

'Thought this might be useful. Don't mind the female items, or singer-related stuff.

See you tomorrow,

B.'

I was confused for a moment, until I spotted the attachment. When I opened it, it turned out to be a checklist of things to pack. I let my eyes dart over the first page and I smirked when I noticed tampons on the list. _Yep, definitely some female items on it._

'Thanks. Definitely useful, I totally would have forgotten to bring along my tampons.

See you later,

Edward.'

I printed the checklist because it would be a lot easier to take a piece of paper with me around the apartment than dragging my notebook along. But before I could start packing, there was another ping. I grinned, knowing whose email it would be.

'I could tell Jasper to cancel, you know.'

'Sorry :)'

'_That_ sounded sincere.'

'I apologise, Miss Swan.'

'You're not going to call me that the entire time we're on tour, are you? Anyway, gonna finish packing now, as should you, Cullen. I won't be lending _you_ any tampons, just so you know.'

'I'll keep that in mind. Happy packing :)'

When it stayed quiet after that email, I figured she really was packing. The moment I took the checklist out of the printer and skipped over it, I was sure she _had_ to be packing, because shit, that list was long. Seven pages, two columns each and a font size of fucking _minus_ 10. At least, I didn't have to pack everything that was on it myself.

I went over the list crossing off the items I wouldn't need to pack anyway, then went into the bedroom to get my suitcase and an extra bag – or two – because I doubted everything would fit in my middle-sized suitcase. It almost felt like I was going to travel around the world instead of the States.

The rest of the day was spent packing, interrupted by a short shopping trip to buy a few things I might need but didn't have yet. When I was having dinner, Aro texted me about my flight tomorrow and that he had arranged for a cab to pick me up at my place at 5AM. I groaned when I read about the early hour, but reminded myself I'd be in for a lot more short nights when I was actually on tour with Bella.

_On tour with Bella._

I couldn't help but smile at that. I had to admit I was even more excited about this than I had been about the interview. The ping I had heard often today tore me out of my thoughts and I checked my email again.

'How's the packing going?'

Realising it was Bella again, a shit-eating grin spread across my face and I couldn't do anything about it.

'Fine, I think I have everything now. You?'

'I think the airplane might not be able to take off once my suitcases are on board :)'

'I'm sure it won't, if you've packed everything that was on that list.'

'Not even close. But my stylist made me take a lot of clothes and stuff.'

'Don't all women pack too many clothes?'

'Ha. You wait until we're in the middle of nowhere and you've run out of clean underwear.'

'I'll go commando.'

'TMI.'

'You asked for it :)'

'I did not, thank you very much.'

'You're welcome.'

'I should have gotten to know you a little better before agreeing to this... This is going to be a looong tour if you continue to act this way :)'

'Admit it, you love it.'

'I already have a big brother to embarrass me, no need to add another person.'

'Alright, alright. You win. I'll behave :)'

'Again with the sincerity, Cullen.'

Before I could reply, my cell phone rang. My mother's name flashed on the display and I couldn't ignore the call. "Mom, just a sec."

'Gotta go, phone call. Later, Swan.'

I sent the message, then got back to my phone again. "Back, sorry about that."

"Eddie! How dare you putting your mother away like that?" She scolded, but I clearly heard the smile in her voice.

"I had to finish an email conversation so I can fully focus on your call now." My computer pinged again and I opened the new email.

'I bet it's your mother who's calling.'

'How did you know that, are you stalking me? :)'

'You wish. I _get_ stalked, not the other way around.'

"Edward? Are you even listening?"

"Huh? What?" I blushed when I realised I had completely forgotten I was having a conversation with my mother. "Sorry, I got another email."

When Esme stayed silent, I continued. "I've been asked to do an item for the magazine that's called 'On The Road With...'. They wanted to do it with Isabella Swan this time and I was just talking a few things over with her about tagging along on the tour. I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

"Oh, that's great news!"

"Yeah, it is." I hesitated. "I'm pretty excited."

"I bet you are." She sounded way too happy for my liking and I groaned. "What? You did mention certain things last time we spoke."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that. Don't make me regret it." I heard a soft laugh on the other end of the line but decided to ignore it. "Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow, so I can't come over this weekend as planned. It was kind of a last-minute thing."

"Of course, dear. You can come by any other time you like, you know that."

"Sure. Listen, I gotta go, I have to finish up on some packing and then I'll head to bed. I've got an early day tomorrow."

"Don't let me keep you. Keep me posted about the tour, okay?"

"Sure. Bye, mom. Tell dad I said 'hi'?"

I shut my phone the second Esme had said her goodbyes too, then wrote an email again.

'Sorry, my mother claimed my undivided attention :) Think I'm gonna head to bed now. Early day tomorrow, but you know all about that.'

'Unfortunately, I do. Sleep tight and see you tomorrow. I'll be the one with the tampons.'

I laughed at her last comment, then shut the notebook down and put it in its bag, ready to take it on tour with me.

**A/N: I know, only digital E/B, but it has to start somewhere.**

**Review, please? Thoughts, favourite lines? Let me know if you want a teaser :)**


	11. Chapter 11: Ready for Takeoff

**A/N: I lied! No, that's not true, I really did try to update last week but I was too busy studying my brains out :( Sorries. Because I'm currently so busy I don't have as much time to write as I used to so I can't promise when I update next. Again, sorry :(**

**I'm extremely happy with the reviews I've received though, especially seeing there are a lot of new names between them, so thank you! I didn't have the time to reply to all reviews of the previous chapter, but I've read them all and I'm really glad everybody enjoyed the E/B interaction.**

**Thanks as always to **_**MsSailorman**_** for beta'ing.**

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Chapter 11: Ready For Takeoff

"Jesus, Bells. What the fuck did you put in there? An entire library or something?"

I laughed at Emmett as he tried to carry two of my suitcases with him. "I was under the impression you were all muscles, Em."

Rose laughed. "Oh, trust me, B. He is."

I groaned at her comment. "TMI, Rose."

"Bella!" I turned at the yelling of my name just in time before Alice launched herself at me, throwing her arms around my neck. "I'm _so_ excited! I know this tour is going to be great, I just feel it."

Jasper joined us in a normal manner and wished us all good morning. He got a grunt in reply from Emmett, while the rest of us greeted him back in a non-caveman way. Jasper walked over to Emmett and helped him stuff all our luggage into the minivan we would use to get to the airport.

We would fly to New York because the first concert was there and the rest of the tour was going to be by bus. Jasper had told me he had arranged a decent tour bus and I hoped he was right. Touring itself was uncomfortable enough already, let alone in a bus that didn't have good heating, or little space to relax and hang out.

When Emmett and Jasper had packed everything, Emmett and I said goodbye to Charlie, who'd gotten up a little earlier before his morning shift to see us off. We all got into the minivan, completely invading each other's personal space but we had moved passed that anyway. There was little privacy when you toured with each other. Besides, being best friends before this circus even started had removed such boundaries as well. Except when Rose started about her sex life with Emmett. Some things you really didn't want to know about your brother.

I had taken a seat near the window, so I could lean my head against it and sleep a little on our way to the airport. Before closing my eyes, I searched through my handbag in search for my iPod, but found my smart phone instead. I decided to check if I had any emails before continuing the great iPod hunt, secretly hoping to find an email from Edward in my inbox.

I wasn't disappointed.

'Where are the tampons? I can't find them.'

'They're on their way to the airport. Will be arriving there in 20mins or so.'

'Okay :) See you then.'

"Isabella Marie Swan!" Alice exclaimed, "What are you smiling about?"

I shoved my phone back in my bag as subtly as possible and shrugged casually. "Nothing. Just looking forward to the tour."

I knew from the look Alice gave me she didn't believe a word I just said, but she seemed to drop the subject. _For now, anyway_.

Instead, Alice threw a plastic bag at me and I looked inside. It was filled with lots of unhealthy junk food that we usually consumed on chick flick movie nights.

"Al, this isn't a road trip, you know."

"_Bel_, technically this is a road trip, you know." She mimicked my voice. "We are on the road, and we will be on the road lots once we get to New York."

I smiled at her, liking her logic and dug in for some jelly beans.

"I really don't know how you can even eat that sweet junk before having a proper breakfast." Rose informed us.

Alice and I just shrugged in response and ate our junk food of choice. I searched through my bag again, and this time I actually found my iPod. I browsed through my library and decided on some atmospheric songs, so I might be able to doze off for a little while.

I leaned my head against the window and pulled one of the blankets we had taken with us over my body. I hit 'play' and closed my eyes, hoping sleep would come over me soon. Which was ridiculous I realised, as I just ate a bunch of sugar. No way I was catching any sleep anymore once that was running through my veins. Still, my eyes remained closed and I tried to relax a bit. I felt Rose put her head on my shoulder in an uncomfortable way, cutting off the blood supply for my arm, but I didn't react to it and just let her rest.

My thoughts drifted off to Edward and the emails we had exchanged yesterday. I had no idea why I had contacted him after I had gotten the information I needed to decide on him joining us. And I had no idea why I had been talking to him as if he were one of my friends. It was stupid, and simply unacceptable. Especially, if I wanted things between us to remain professional and keep my personal Bella life separate from Isabella, the artist's life.

I had been doing a poor job at that anyway. I had asked Alice yesterday about the after party and apparently, Edward and I had seemed 'pretty cosy'. Whatever that might mean, it wasn't keeping things professional. She didn't really know a lot more than I already knew myself so I made a mental note to subtly try to ask Edward if I had done anything stupid. I probably did at some point. _Ugh._ Alcohol loosened me up a little too much. I sighed and opened my eyes again, looking out of the window.

The landscape passed us by rather quickly and I sat up, Rose's head falling off my shoulder and waking her up. "Shit, Emmett. You _have_ heard of speed limits, haven't you?"

Emmett looked over his shoulder and grinned at me. Rose let out an annoyed grunt and slapped the back of his head. "Eyes on the road, you ass."

Emmett's grin remained in place, but he turned back to the road again. There wasn't a lot of traffic this early in the morning, but I had gotten enough lectures of Charlie about car accidents to know our current speed wasn't anywhere near safe. Emmett probably had gotten the same lectures but I couldn't tell from the way he was driving.

One definite pro of non-existent speed limits; it didn't take long before we arrived at the airport.

It took us a while to get all our bags and suitcases out of the van but it was still quite early when we walked into the main hall of the airport.

"So, where is that journalist?" Emmett asked and looked at me instead of Jasper like I had expected.

"Uh, I don't know." I felt my cheeks burn up and swallowed nervously, "I-I could email him, I guess."

They all stared at me, and suddenly I was freaking out internally. Fuck, why had we invited a journalist to come along with us? Even if it was Edward, he still was a _journalist_.

Rose seemed to sense something was up, because she took a step towards me and gained the attention of the guys.

"Em, Jazz, how about you two go get us some breakfast? I think we all could use some morning caffeine and a little something to eat."

Of course, no one had to mention getting food twice to Emmett and he took off, dragging Jasper with him.

"Thanks, Rose."

She smiled at me and moved her hand in the air as if to wave my thanks away. Then, her expression turned into a worried one, but before she could speak up, Alice did.

"What's going on, B?"

"I'm... freaking out. I mean, I shouldn't have agreed. I like the guy, he could be a friend to me." Rose raised an eyebrow to that and I rolled my eyes before I continued, "Yesterday, we were emailing and I treated him like a friend. But he's _not_, and that could seriously screw up the line we have carefully built over the years between my normal and my artist life _when_ I fuck up. Because I'm fucking sure I will fuck up. I can't be friends with him, he's a journalist! A fucking _journalist_. God knows what he will write and-"

"Whoa, Bells. Breathe." Rose rubbed my arm in an attempt to calm me down.

"I'm sure Jazz will have him sign an agreement, and that you guys get to read everything before he publishes it." Alice commented, "It's not like you won't have any control over that." She grinned at me and I knew she was excited about something, "Now, tell me more about that emailing."

"Alice," I groaned, "that is so not the issue right now."

"Well, B, I have to admit I'm a little curious as well." Before I could reply, Rose spoke up again. "We all look after you, B, _always_, and we will continue to do so now. Not that we think you can't handle yourself, but we all get you want a life that's as normal as possible and having paparazzi following you everywhere wouldn't help with that. Besides, after the interview, both you and Jasper said he wasn't annoying like most journalists. It will be fine, B."

I nodded at her and took a deep breath. It would be fine. He would only be touring with us. No big deal. I got my bag and took my smart phone out.

'We're at the main hall, breakfast time soon. Join us?'

"Let's claim some seats." I said to the girls while nodding towards a group of plastic airport seats. We walked over to them while dragging all the luggage with us the best we could and spread the bags over more seats than we actually needed. It wasn't crowded anyway.

"Morning, Bella." A familiar voice greeted from behind me.

I turned around with a smile on my face, glad he had used my first name. "Good morning, Edward."

It was quiet for a moment while Edward and I just looked at each other, until Alice spoke up. "Hey, Eddie."

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Eddie, huh? Only my mother calls me like that."

Alice grinned at him and simply shrugged instead of answering.

I chuckled and Edward looked back at me again. "Better get used to it, there's no such thing as making Alice change her mind. Oh!" I realised I hadn't properly introduced them to each other yet. "I know you guys met at the after party and all, but Alice is my stylist." I turned to Rose and pointed my hand in her direction, not knowing if she and Edward had met a few days ago. "Rose, Edward. Edward, Rosalie. She is Alice's accomplice and does my hair and make-up."

Edward gave Rose a polite smile and extended his hand her. "Nice to meet you, Rosalie."

Rose grinned at him and shook his hand. "It _definitely _is, Edward. And call me Rose, please."

Edward nodded at that and it fell silent again. But before the silence could become uncomfortable, Emmett showed up, Jasper following a few feet behind him.

"Breakfast time!"

"You remember Emmett, right?" I asked Edward and he nodded as reply. "Besides my bodyguard, as you know, he is also my brother."

Edward's eyes widened in surprise. "Brother?"

Emmett and I smiled at each other, used to people reacting like that.

"Whoa. You wouldn't guess you two shared any genes."

Emmett grinned at him. "Yeah, we get that a lot."

"Guys," Jasper gained all our attention, "how about we take our things to the check-in, because it will take a while. We can have breakfast while waiting."

"Of course, Jazz." I said, and everybody grabbed their own things.

We got over to the check-in desks and Jasper spoke to the airline assistant behind the desk. After checking our luggage in – noticing for the first time Edward had a guitar case with him – and getting through security, we claimed some seats again and divided the food Emmett and Jasper had bought earlier. The coffees were long gone by then, and Rose and I offered to buy some more.

Right when we got back, they announced our gate was open. One big advantage of the long time it had taken to check in our baggage was the short time we had to wait afterwards.

We made our way to the gate and got into the airplane. We weren't seated near each other, except Emmett, who sat next to me. I got out my iPod again and the book I was currently reading, and I was all set for the flight.

My smart phone binged, signalling I had a new email. Emmett seemed distracted enough by the sports magazine he was reading, so I quickly checked it.

'Tum-dum-tum-dum-tum-dum... will we be able to take off or not?'

I smiled and resisted the urge to turn in my chair and see if I could spot him.

'You saw the luggage. It wasn't that much.'

'Right. You're taking _only_ 3 more bags with you than I am.'

'Shut it, _Eddie_.'

'Ugh, not you too.'

':)'

'You suck :)'

'I'm sure if Isabella Swan asked, they won't mind removing someone from this plane.'

'You're going to keep threatening me with such things?'

'You're going to keep annoying me? :)'

'Point taken.'

The pilot started his usual speech, welcoming everyone on board and what not and announced the passengers were supposed to get ready for takeoff, and thus turn off our phones and all that shit.

'Good. Gonna read some after takeoff. Have a nice flight ;)'

'You too, Swan.'

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**A/N: Damn, now they're emailing again. I promise next chapter they'll switch to talking face-to-face :)**

**Thoughts, favourite lines/parts, please?**


	12. Chapter 12: Annoying Girl Band

**A/N: I swear I haven't forgotten about this story. Again, real life is really keeping me busy right now, so please forgive me for being really, really slow with the updates. I'm sorry I haven't replied to recent reviews, but I've read them all and am thankful for them. I would reply to them now, but I figured you'd rather have me up a new chapter instead, right?**

**Thanks to **_**MsSailorman**_** for beta'ing

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Chapter 12: Annoying Girl Band

- Bella -

"Fuck, I packed way too much."

I tried to stuff the last bag between my suitcase and other bags in one of the cabinets of the tour bus, but didn't really succeed.

"No, Bells, you didn't. You really do need all the clothing." Alice told me, looking at me as if I had gone crazy.

"But it doesn't fit, Al." I gave another push to the bag but it didn't move a single bit.

Emmett entered the limited space between the bunks and squeezed himself in. "Ladies, let me." He nudged me aside and slammed the cabinet door close with force.

"Emmett! Watch it, we actually _rent_ this stuff. I doubt the owner would like a hole in the door." I swear sometimes it felt like I still had to educate my big brother.

"Relax, B. Look!" He smiled at me as he lifted his hand from the door and it stayed close.

"Bella?" Jasper yelled from the front of the bus.

"Over here, at the beds!"

I heard Jasper footsteps nearing before the small door toward the sleeping part got opened and he poked his head in. "They need you inside for the sound check."

I nodded. "Sure, I'll be there in a sec."

Jasper disappeared again, Alice following behind him. I grabbed my handbag, taking it with me, and got off the bus. Emmett walked with me, as always taking his job as bodyguard very seriously when we were on tour. I was glad he was with me, especially when I heard someone screaming my name from the front side of the venue.

I looked up and noticed a line was already forming before the entrance. At least, there was solid fencing between them and the artist entrance, so they couldn't come anywhere near me.

I was still overwhelmed by the number of fans I had gained over the years, and especially the craziness that came with it. People screaming my name, wanting me to sign things, wanting to take pictures with me. Mostly, I tried to avoid it, but when someone who worked at a venue where I performed asked me, I couldn't really deny it.

Emmett held the door for me and I sighed in relief when I was hidden from the eyes of the fans. I was glad I had decided to wear jeans and a sweater today instead of sweatpants, otherwise pictures of me wearing that would show up on the internet. Pictures taken with a cell phone looked shitty enough already.

I shook my head, wondering why the fuck I even cared how I looked in a picture. I wasn't a vain person by nature, but I knew I had to look good when I made public appearances or those paparazzi would write something _nice_ about me, maybe recommend me a visit to the plastic surgeon or a diet that equalled starving myself.

Once we were backstage, Emmett left me alone. Inside the venue, I mostly didn't get into situations where I needed a bodyguard.

I spent the next hour on autopilot, going over the usual sound check routine. Sound checks weren't really all that interesting, but it had to be done. After specific parts of a few songs that were always tricky and a very elegant fall on the stage as I tripped over my own feet, the band and I finished off by playing an entire song. Luckily, the sound guy gave us his thumps up, telling us we were done. I turned to walk off the stage and I spotted Edward.

He smiled as I looked at him. "Nice."

I took the step off the stage and signalled for him to walk with me. "The sound check?"

He looked away from me and shrugged. "The full song, at least."

I nodded and we both fell silent. We walked towards the dressing room, neither of us feeling the urge to speak up. When we entered the dressing room, it was still empty.

I let out a surprised 'oh' and Edward raised an eyebrow at me. "It's... empty. I'm just not really used to empty dressing rooms, I guess. Usually lots of people hang out here, or well not here here, just at the venues in general. Ugh, never mind me." I was babbling. _Again_. I did that far too often around him.

I cleared my throat and hopefully sounded professional again when I continued. "Did Jasper ask you about the agreement, statement, whatever?"

Edward gave me a small smile and nodded. "Yep," He let the p make a popping sound, "I signed it on the plane."

"I'm sorry, but we have to-"

"No, I get it really. I probably would too, if I were in your shoes."

I sat down on one of the couches and Edward took a seat next t me. "So, what will you actually write about?"

Edward leaned forward, folding his hands and resting his arms on his thighs.

_God, those thighs._

_Stop it, Bella._

"Well, it's mostly about giving the readers an impression of how your tour life looks like."

"Like 11AM; Bella gets up, 11:05; Bella has morning coffee?" I joked and Edward laughed.

I felt all warm inside, just from the sound of his laugh.

_Your insides, you mean._

_Fuck, I'm screwed._

"Not really." He smiled my favourite crooked-smile and continued, "More like a picture every now and then, any events you attend or whatever, maybe an anecdote." His smile disappeared and he seemed a little... nervous, maybe? Uncomfortable? "I mean, if that's alright with you of course. I'd totally understand if you don't wa-"

"As long as I can read over everything before you submit it, it's all fine with me." I smiled at him, hopefully easing his mood a little.

His smile returned, so I liked to think that I indeed had.

I pulled my legs up on the couch and wrapped them Indian-style."Have you been on tour before?"

He leaned back into the couch and turned a little so he was facing me. He looked at me almost shyly when he answered. "Actually, this is my first one." He ran his hand through his hair, which seemed a nervous tick of his. "Your packing list was useful, seeing I didn't have any idea really. The concert part I am familiar with, interviewing and reviewing and all that as well, but touring? Unknown territory for me. I-I'm kind of... excited," I could swear he blushed at that. "and I err, I want to th-thank you for this opportunity."

"Oh." I was kind of surprised by his little speech, especially by the way he suddenly treated me like Isabella, the artist. Like a diva who had done something incredibly great by agreeing to something that someone else could benefit from. "You don't have to thank me. I mean, my label wanted me to do more promoting, so when your editor asked..." I looked away from him, down to my hands which were resting in my lap. "The interview had gone good, so it's more 'cause of you that we... I mean, if you'd been an ass like the first guy that morning, it would have been a 'no', for sure. You seem like one of the good guys, though."

_What the fuck are you saying, Bella?_

I cleared my throat and played a little with the hem of my shirt. "Anyway, don't thank me, there's no need to." I looked up at him again and gave him a slight smile, hopefully hiding I was feeling slightly uncomfortable with the situation.

He was staring back at me with a grin on his face and his casual attitude from before seemed to have returned.

The door got opened and immediately a lot of talking filled the room. Jasper entered with a few girls following him.

"Bella, I'd like to introduce you to the supporting act for the first leg of this tour."

I mumbled 'great' under my breath, then put on my professional smile while I got up from the couch. Edward chuckled, apparently having heard my comment. I gave him a real smile for a moment, before returning my attention to Jasper and the unknown girls.

"Bella, this is Tanya," He pointed from one girl to the next. "Jessica, Lauren and Angela. They're an all girl band, obviously."

The girl named Jessica squealed. "Yes! Every night is going to be like, girl power! You know, with us opening for you, and then you!"

I fought to keep my smile on my face. Somehow this girl had managed to get on my nerves after only one sentence. This was going to be fun.

As if Jasper could read my mind, he softly added. "I arranged for them to have their own tour bus."

"Which is so totally awesome! I mean, our _own_ tour bus. That's like, the first time for us. Right, girls?" Jessica nudged Tanya and Lauren who stood to either side of her and they both nodded excitedly.

Judging from their reaction, Jessica seemed to be the group leader and Tanya and Lauren happily followed their role model Barbie. The other girl, Angela, seemed more of a shy girl. But god knows how she'd turn out to be during the tour.

"Nice meeting you all." I said politely, secretly hoping this conversation would be over soon.

Then Edward gained the attention of Jessica, and automatically Tanya and Lauren. "Hi, I'm Jessica."

Edward put on the same professional smile as when we had met for the first time and nodded at her as greeting. "Edward."

Jessica smiled broadly at him. "Nice meeting you, Edward." She openly checked him out and when she had decided she liked what she saw, she winked at him.

I couldn't read the expression on Edward's face and I felt my stomach tighten. It took a moment before I realised what it was. Jealousy. I was jealous, while there wasn't even a real reason to be. There was nothing going on between Edward and me, he was practically a stranger. Be it a very attractive stranger.

_He doesn't seem too eager, at least._

I snorted to myself, feeling ridiculous for even thinking about this. All the faces in the room turned to me and I realised the snorting might have come off a little weird. I cleared my throat and nodded at the girls. "Excuse me." I almost wanted to add some lame excuse about having to be elsewhere, but a reason for leaving wasn't really needed when you were Isabella Swan. When I met people like Jessica, I liked to take advantage of that.

I left the room and I heard the door open and close again while I walked down the hallway.

"Bells, wait up."I held back for a moment and Jasper quickly caught up with me. He handed me my handbag which I had completely forgotten about and I thanked him.

I was about to say something about the meeting we'd just had but he was faster than me. "I'm sorry. I had _no_ idea they were so annoying."

I shook my head and laughed. "They're awful, Jazz! Like, oh my god, so totally awful!" I mimicked Jessica's voice and way of speaking.

Jasper laughed with me and threw his arm over my shoulders. "Yeah, and we have like, our own tour bus. I mean like, oh my gaaawd, you know. And we're touring with like, the biggest star _ever_, and it's sooo totally fabulous!"

"Please, don't let them come near me too often? I might have to strangle them, especially Barbie No. 1. Fuck, she's annoying."

Jasper gave me a knowing smile and a nod. "You got it, Bells."

* * *

**A/N: Yay, a little E/B interaction! Sometimes these two really frustrate me with how slow they're being…**

**Thoughts/Favourite lines? :)**


	13. Chapter 13: Unexpected Text Messages

**A/N: One update a month, I must be the slowest writer out there. But better late than never, right? I have to turn in my BA thesis report Friday next week so I will update more regularly once I'm done with all that jazz.**

**I've decided to create a Twitter account where I'll post teasers, updates and reply to whatever questions you may have. All tweets are public so the non-tweeters among you will be able to see the tweets as well. So main point; follow foreverthyqueen, I'll follow you back :)**

**As always, thanks to MsSailorman for beta'ing.**

**And now let's roll…**

Chapter 13: Unexpected Text Messages

- Edward -

"So, this is where we'll sleep when we need to hit the road right after a gig." Jasper walked ahead of me, showing me around in the tour bus. He turned in the narrow space between the bunks to face me and nodded at the ones below. "Those below aren't divided yet, so take your pick."

His eyes shifted from the beds to me and he continued, "I have to go now, I still have to arrange a few things. Bella is doing the sound check now, you're free to check it out if you like. I'd settle around here first, though, there won't be a lot of time left later."

I nodded and thanked him, and Jasper squeezed himself passed me, leaving the bus. I dumped my bags on the bed that was the nearest, deciding that one was going to be mine for the next weeks. I noticed the small space beneath the bed and stuffed my suitcase and bags under it. I considered my settling to be done and walked over to the venue.

Jasper didn't seem to fully trust me yet, as he kept a distant, professional attitude towards me. Not that I blamed him. He was Bella's manager and friend – or so I hoped, I still couldn't figure out if there was more between them – and only wanted to keep her safe. If I hadn't seen him interact with the others, I'd have thought he was a distant person in general, but obviously he wasn't when he was with his friends.

Emmett didn't seem too excited about my stay either, but he didn't have to worry. Like I'd be out to upset a guy as huge as him. Scratch that, more like I wouldn't be out to upset Bella, anyway. I still couldn't believe how normal, at the lack of a better word, she seemed. She really loved her friends and cared for them, that was obvious. She didn't go ordering people around just because she could.

I hung the all access pass Jasper had given me on my neck before approaching the security guard of the venue. I let my eyes drift toward the main entrance for a moment and spotted a crowd, already waiting to be let in. _Crazy_. Bella wasn't even finished with her sound check yet, and her fans were already here.

I nodded to the security guy and he let me pass after a quick glance at my pass. Once inside, I could clearly hear Bella's voice echoing through the building. She was singing one of the songs of the new album, but with some talking in between that clearly had to do with the sound check. Until she suddenly cursed loudly.

"Ow. Fuck!"

The band stopped playing and it became very quite in the backstage area. When I arrived at the side of the stage, I saw Bella half-lying, half-sitting on one of the amps, with the guitarist leaning over her. She took his hand and he pulled her into a standing position again.

A blush spread over her cheeks as she hastily straightened her shirt the best she could with one hand, the other still holding a microphone. Then she dared to look up again and nodded to the other two guys of her band.

"I'm fine, guys. I just... well, let's continue." She blurted into the microphone, so the sound technician could hear her as well.

After the sound check, Bella and I hung out in the dressing room for a while, with a very embarrassing and stuttered word of thanks from my side – what the fuck was wrong with me really? – until Jasper got in to introduce us to the most annoying girls ever. I chuckled when Bella muttered a sarcastic 'great' when the chattering Barbies entered the room, showing her obvious dislike. Still she put on a smile and played nice when the leader of the group started talking to her like they were best friends and the coolest people in high school.

I thought it was pretty fucking funny how they were all excited when Jasper told Bella he had put them in a separate tour bus. They obviously didn't get the _real_ reason of it. It became a little less funny when Bimbo number one, Jessica, turned her attention to me, openly checking me out. Shortly after that Bella and Jasper left the room and I remained with the girls.

_Well, fuck._

Jessica sat down on the couch where Bella previously had been, placing her hand on my leg. Before she could say anything though, I got up, mumbling some excuse about having to finish up some things. They didn't know what my function around here was, so why not take advantage of that.

Before the door fell close behind me, I heard Jessica let out a disappointed 'aw' and I pulled a face. Clearly, she didn't have a single clue how other people saw her.

Shaking my head, I got out my smart phone and typed up an email because I still didn't have Bella's number.

'You suck, leaving me to the mercy of Annoying Girl Band like that.'

Not really knowing what to do, I strolled back to the bus. I had no idea where Bella and Jasper had gone off to and I grimaced, realising I really didn't want to know what they were doing where anyway, if they really were involved. But when my phone beeped before I had even reached the bus, I knew at least it wasn't _that_.

'Sorry :) You can come join us at dressing room 3 if you want.'

A few minutes later, I entered dressing room 3 and Jasper, Bella and Emmett were there. Jasper was pacing through the room while having a phone conversation. _Does he ever put that phone down? _Then Bella gained my attention because she was laughing really loud. Emmett had thrown her over his shoulder and she was dangling with her face just above his ass.

"Put me down, Em. Put me down!" Her smile was clearly audible in her voice, so her words didn't come out as demanding as she had probably meant them to be.

Jasper looked over at the siblings and shook his head while a small smile played around his lips. He walked over to where I was still standing in the doorway, passing me and leaving the room, probably looking for a quieter place to continue his call.

"Oh, hi Edward." Bella greeted me, still hanging over Emmett's shoulder. She smiled goofily and blushed slightly. "We must make quite the impression on you." She slapped Emmett's ass. "Put me down, you asstard."

"Just wait until I tell Rosie you were mistreating something she likes so much." Emmett replied with a huge grin on his face while putting Bella back on the floor.

She pulled a face and shoved him in his shoulder. "What's with you and Rose and all the TMI today?" She straightened her clothes and seemed to remember my presence again as she looked up at me with a teasing expression on her face. "Sorry about the girls." The tone of her voice and the grin on her face told me she wasn't.

Bella flopped down on a seat and I walked into the room, leaning against a table near her.

"I swear I'm going to strangle them if they'll bug me again, which I think Jessica is planning to."

"Yeah, you definitely seemed to have gained her interest." She cocked her eyebrow and looked at me with an unasked question in her eyes, but I couldn't figure out what she was asking with it.

_I'm a guy for fuck's sake._

"I definitely don't want her interest."

"Who is Jessica?" Emmett's loud voice roared through the room.

Bella's eyes widened for a moment, as if she had forgotten he was here, before she cleared her throat and answered his question. "One of the girls of the supporting act. They're fucking annoying, so you better run when Jasper wants to introduce you to them." She seemed to consider what she had said for a moment, then continued. "No, scratch that. You should at least get to know their faces, so you can guide me elsewhere when you spot them nearing me."

I laughed softly while Emmett frowned. "They can't be that bad."

"Em, they _really_ are. Trust me."

Emmett still didn't seem fully convinced by her, as he looked at me questioningly. I shrugged, "I have to agree with her."

Bella huffed and we both looked at her again, but she was gazing the other way. "They looked at Edward as if-" She fell silent when she turned her head and we were both looking at her. She shifted in her seat and blushed again. "Well, you know, like bimbos do."

_Is she jealous?_

_Fuck, of course not. She's just annoyed._

As was I, but mostly with myself. What was this damn Bella fascination I had going on?

Placing a hand on my shoulder, Emmett grinned at me. "Good luck with that."

_With Bella? What. The. Fuck?_

"Huh?"

"I'm sure they can't wait to get their claws into their prey."

_Oh, right, we weren't actually talking about my Bella obsession._

_You're losing it, Cullen._

I glared at him, feeling comfortable enough around Emmett to know that he wouldn't think I'd really mean it. Maybe in a while, we could be friends. Emmett just laughed and stalked out of the room.

"I'm not looking forward to that." I said as I sat down next to Bella, just to be sure she knew I wasn't interested in case I had interpreted her correctly before. "Girls like that are too easy. It's very unappealing."

Bella looked at me and cocked her eyebrow, then her expression turned into a worried one. "Edward, can I ask you something?"

"Of course." I reassured her, wondering what she suddenly seemed to be so worried about.

"You remember the day we met and we had that after party in some club?" She waited for confirmation so I nodded. She looked away from me and ran her hands over her thighs continuously when she continued, "Well, I... I had downed quite a few drinks and when I asked Alice... I mean, I can't remember much from that night and my friends weren't any help either, so..."

Her cheeks had turned a bright red by now and when she looked me into my eyes again, she bit her lip harshly and seemed a little nervous. When she started babbling too, I was definitely sure she was nervous. "Alice said we seemed pretty cosy, whatever that means, and the last thing I remember is hanging out with you, but I know I woke up at the hotel so clearly we didn't do _that_, unless we-oh god, did we? No, don't tell me, maybe I don't want to know. Well, I _do_ want to know, but I don't want to know if-"

"Bella," I placed my hand on her knee, ignoring the warm feeling that spread from my fingers, and she looked at me with her eyes wide, frozen in her seat. "If you're worried about if something happened, I can tell you nothing did."

"Oh thank god!" Relief washed over her face and she smiled.

Deciding to mess with her a bit, I raised an eyebrow when she looked at me, looking at her questioningly. The smile faded and the blush made its grand reappearance.

"Oh, I mean... not _thank god_ thank god, but thank god, you know. Because if we... you know, it would be... It's not a shit-I'm-waking-up-next-to-the-biggest-loser-on-the-planet kind of thank god, more of a- Cullen, why are you laughing?"

Her entire attitude changed the moment she realised I was trying really hard to keep myself from laughing. As she noticed, I couldn't keep it in any longer and laughed out loud.

"You are such a fucking ass!" She accused but laughed along. Her hands found a cushion and she smacked me with it half-heartedly, before dropping it on the floor.

"Sorry, I just couldn't let the opportunity pass." I used my charm smile on her and, even though she wasn't even mad at me in the first place, her expression softened and she smiled back at me.

Her eyes found mine and it was impossible look away. I felt her body heat and suddenly, I was very aware of her proximity. But right before the moment could really become a moment, her phone beeped.

I pulled away from her and swallowed heavily, only now realising how dry my throat had gotten. Bella leaned away in the opposite direction to take her phone out of her bag and she stared at the screen. The bright smile that had still been on her face turned into a confused frown, then into pure horror.

"Fuck." She whispered but before I could ask her anything she jumped up out of her seat and started pacing through the room, her phone attached to her ear.

"Jasper? Get over here, right away. And find Emmett, take him with you."

She ended the conversation but continued her pacing. She ran her hands through her long hair and I noticed her already pale skin had turned even paler.

"Bella, what's wrong?"

She let herself fall back into her seat again and hid her face in her hands.

"Bella?" I whispered because speaking with volume didn't seem to fit now.

After a row of muffled curses, she lifted her head and her watery eyes met mine.

"It's James. My stalker."

**A/N: A stalker? Oh noez! Follow foreverthyqueen for teasers ;)**

**As usual, I'd love to hear your thoughts/favourite lines/deepest, darkest secrets/whatever you feel like leaving me in a review. I'll try to reply this time. I'm a bad, bad author for not always doing so, sorries. **

**Oh, btw, I have to say Kristen is looking absolutely fabulous promoting Eclipse. All her shoes are simply… shoegasmic. Who's with me?**


	14. Chapter 14: FreakOuts&DinnerConversation

**Yes, I'm still alive. Yes, I'm continuing this story. Sometimes life and writer's block really get in the way of things! I apologise to everybody who is (was?) reading this and I thank everybody who still has this story on alert. ****The number of reviews, follows, alerts and hits this story has still been getting was my main motivator for continuing my writing.**

**Anyway, even though this story is nowhere near finished yet, I have almost 100 pages written up for this baby so it shouldn't take me another 1,5 years to update next time, lol.**

**This chapter is unbeta'ed, btw, so please forgive any mistakes.**

Chapter 14: Freak Outs & Dinner Conversations

- Bella -

_Not good. This is not good._

I started rocking my body to a constant rhythm in order not to freak out completely. I bit my lip hard and tasted the blood within seconds as I bit through the skin.

_Not good. Not good._

I hid my face in my hands again, trying my best to stay calm. I felt a warm hand stroke up and down my back in the same rhythm I was rocking and it relaxed me a little.

It lasted for a few seconds only, because I heard the door burst open. I jumped back at the motion, for a moment convinced that James would be standing there. When I looked into the worried faces of Jasper and Emmett, I suddenly burst out in tears not able to control my emotions any longer.

_Not good. Not good._

"Bells, what's wrong?" They were next to me within seconds, fussing over my body and checking if I was at least physically alright.

"_You_, what did you do to her?" Emmett grunted and I realised he meant Edward.

"No, not him." I pressed out between two heavy sobs, shaking my head.

Edward took that as his cue to fill them in. "She mentioned a guy named James, said he's h-"

"A stalker." Jasper finished his sentence as he wrapped his arms around me. The hand at my back disappeared only to be replaced by Jaspers hands as he rubbed my back. "It's okay, Bells. It's going to be fine. Just tell me what happened, and we'll take care of it. We'll handle it and it will be fine." He stressed the last words in a determined voice.

I seemed to gain some self-control again and I more or less stopped crying. "He has my number, Jazz. How the fuck did he get my number? Only you guys have it, no one else, right? Right, Jazz?"

He felt him shrug. "I don't know how he got it, Bells. But it doesn't matter. I'll change your number right away, it's no big deal. Is there something else?"

_Not good. Not good._

I didn't reply to him and Jasper took that as confirmation.

"You have to tell me, Bella. Tell me so we can fix it."

Taking a deep breath, I pulled away from him and opened my text inbox on my phone. "He texted this." I handed my phone to Jasper and Emmett immediately hung over his shoulder to have a look at the tiny screen as well.

"Hi Isabella, I'm looking forward to seeing you again this tour. I hope you'll sing my song for me. Maybe we can hang out afterwards? X James." Jasper handed my phone back to me, shaking his head and balling his fists. "He is so _fucking_ crazy. But, don't worry, B. I'll get extra security and you go nowhere alone, got it?"

I nodded in agreement, because I really didn't feel like going anywhere all by myself now anyway. Jasper crouched down so he was at my level and placed a hand on my knee. "He's _not_ going to get near you, Bella. We'll take care of it."

"Jasper?" My voice sounded raw as my throat was dry from the stress. "We don't even know _when_ he'll be there." I whispered softly, but he seemed to hear me anyway.

"It doesn't matter. We will have someone with you to keep you safe twenty-four-seven."

I nodded again and took a deep breath and let the air flow out of my lungs slowly. I ran a hand over my forehead and felt the little drops of sweat there. I took another deep breath and let my body fall against the backrest of my seat. I looked around the room and was surprised to see Emmett and Edward were still there. I had totally forgotten all about them during my little breakdown.

"I..." I started but closed my mouth again when they all eyed me curiously. My voice sounded hoarse and I realised it was because my throat was dry. "I'm sorry, I need a minute." I got up from my seat, scanning the room with my eyes for a bottle of water. When I couldn't find one, I felt my anxiety turn into pure rage. "Shouldn't we have something to drink here? What kind of a fucking place is this, not even having water for their bands?" I stumped around the room but one of my feet got caught behind the cushion I had dropped on the ground earlier and I almost landed on the floor hadn't there been a table I could grab onto near me.

"That goddamn sheep cock sucking son of a bitch!" I kicked the pillow a few times before I went on to kicking the launch chair I had been sitting in before. "Fucking cum bucket shit face! Argh! FUCK!"

I kicked one more time before feeling satisfied and I breathed in deeply to calm myself down again. After coming back to my senses, I eyed the guys again. They were staring at me with their eyes wide in shock. I felt embarrassed about my outburst and I blushed. "I'm sorry. Just... Err, well... had to get that out of my system." I bit my lip nervously and winced when my teeth hit the already cracked skin from when I had bitten it harshly before.

Emmett was the first to get out of his staring trance and he grinned at me. He took the few steps that were between us and ruffled my hair. "That's my girl." My cheeks burned up even more and I dropped my eyes to my feet. "We uh... probably shouldn't tell Charlie, little B. He'll-"

"Hell no!" I interrupted him. "He'll freak out!"

"Well, _that_ runs the family as it seems." Edward said, probably without thinking as his eyes widened shortly after.

I was certain he was about to apologise when I burst into a laughing fit. Emmett joined me right away and after a moment Jasper did too. Edward settled for a goofy grin and ran a hand through his hair, still seeming a little uncomfortable.

On the contrary, I felt a lot more comfortable after that. I straightened my back as if to face this situation because I knew freaking out wasn't going to get us anywhere. "Let's just get back to our day, okay?" I looked at the guys who all seemed to agree with me. "Jazz, will you be able to... arrange everything, you know, s-security and all?" He nodded again and opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off, raising my hand at him. "Good. Now, I want to have dinner. Let's get our girls."

When we found Alice and Rose, Jasper filled them in on James and they were both shocked. Rose recovered quickly however, saying she'd cut his balls off before she'd ever let him come near me. Honestly, I believed her. Rose could be very intimidating if something, or in this case someone, she cared about was at stake. I smiled at her and thanked her for her support.

Because most of us didn't feel like staying at the venue, we decided to head out for dinner. The three guys walked behind us, much to my dismay. On the other hand, checking out Edward's ass might make it even harder for me to deny the attraction I felt to him. I was certain if I hadn't received that fucking text message in that moment, something would have happened. Something I would probably regret later.

I had to settle for locking arms with Alice and Rose either side of me and the occasional glance over my shoulder. I swear I caught him looking at me once, but his eyes had darted away so quickly, I might as well have imagined it.

"Here, this restaurant looks decent." Alice said, dragging me with her and thus pulling Rose with her as well.

We made our way through the door and were welcomed by the hostess. From the widening of the woman's eyes, I knew she recognised me. It took her a second to regain her professional composure before she took us to a table that was more or less hidden.

"Jazz, move." Alice ordered him and of course, poor Jasper did as she told him. She took the seat next to his and pulled me down next to her, with a huge smile on her face.

I gave her a smile back, even though I didn't really know what there was to smile about. Two seconds later, however, I knew why she seemed so pleased with herself. Edward sat down next to me, because somehow the chair next to me was the only one left. I sent Alice a glance to let her know I was on the her, but she looked like the personification of innocence. The corners of her mouth twitched a little as her eyes darted to the opposite side of the table. I followed her gaze only to find myself looking at a grinning Rose.

_Yep, definitely partners in crime._

It was bad enough already that I couldn't stop myself from feeling drawn to Edward, now my friends were even pushing me towards him. Not that I minded, but we all knew I couldn't let this happen. Right?

A waitress came by our table to hand us the menus and take our drink orders. I noticed her eyes lingered a little longer on Edward's features than necessary when he gave his order. She smiled at him the same way as Jessica had before and I wondered if he had that influence on every female. And oh god, was I one of those too?

I couldn't help myself and shot the waitress a death glare when she finally turned her attention to me. Her eyes darted between me and Edward before she seemed to back off slightly. She excused herself to get our drinks and Alice kicked me under the table.

"Ow, Alice, what the fuck was that for?" I whispered, not entirely sure I wanted everybody at our table to hear the answer.

She rolled her eyes at me, then gave me a knowing smile. "We might get poisoned food if you continue to glare at the poor waitress like that."

I blushed and stared down at the menu in front of me, while playing nervously with the fabric of the tablecloth. I heard Alice chuckle and I returned the favour of kicking her.

"Know what you want yet?" The velvety voice I knew so well by now asked.

I looked up from the menu, noticing both couples were engaged in their own conversations. I looked to my right to find Edward looking at me with those amazing sparkling green eyes.

_Yes, you._

I swallowed and shook my head slightly to metaphorically shake that thought off. "Mushroom ravioli. I-It's my favourite."

Edward leaned towards me a little and was about to speak up again when the waitress returned with our drinks and asked for our orders.

I observed Alice as she leaned into Jasper to whisper something in his ear. The laidback look on his face told me he was relaxing, something I rarely saw him do when we were on tour and his manager duties asked a lot of him. I was glad Alice made him happy and I couldn't help but smile at my two dear friends. When Jasper smiled and said something back to Alice as they both stared intensely into each other eyes, I quickly looked away, feeling like I was intruding on a private moment.

I noticed Edward had been watching them too, but his eyes drifted to mine as if he sensed I was looking at him.

"Are they together?" He asked me softly, making sure the others couldn't hear.

I nodded as reply. "I didn't tell you?" He shook his head so I figured I'd fill him in on Emmett and Rose too. "Emmett and Rose too. We're the only singles here." I didn't realise until after I said it I didn't actually know if Edward was single.

_Great. Enter blush._

"I-I mean, I am. I wouldn't know a-about you, of course. I just assu-"

"Single, too." He interrupted me, before giving me that crooked-smile I was quickly starting to love.

_Oh, shit. You've got it bad, Bells._

Afraid I would blurt out something I wasn't supposed to if I would reply, I simply smiled back at him shyly. Deciding the piece he had to write was a safe subject, I asked him about that. "So, err, did you write something for the blog yet?"

"No, not really." He shook his head. "I plan on writing something tonight though, after the show. Jasper said we'd hit the road straight after but I figured I won't catch a lot of sleep yet, with... well, since it's new to me and all." He cleared his throat and I smiled at him reassuringly, having the feeling he was a bit embarrassed about it.

"Yeah, I remember when we did that for the first time." I chuckled at the memory. "None of us could sleep really, so we hung out for a while. By the time we finally arrived at the next city, we were all exhausted. The people at the venue must have thought of us as annoying assholes, seeing how cranky we all were."

Edward laughed at my anecdote before looking at me with those eyes again. "I apologise for my crankiness beforehand then."

"Oh, don't worry, we all get it. I doubt I'll be on my best either, I always have to get used to touring lifestyle again on the first days. I have to follow a different diet, I have to exercise more, stuff like that." I doubt any of that was even remotely interesting to him, but his face didn't show. "Anyway, I won't bore you with that."

He sounded sincere when he responded. "Nothing you do or say bores me, Bella."

I was glad I was already sitting or I would have made a fool of myself as my knees became weak on the spot.

_Yes, I definitely have it bad._

**A/N: Next up, a big surprise for Edward, that might just make him very, very grateful to our Bella *wink wink***

**Did I ever mention that reviews motivate me to post more? No? Well then, here ya go ;-)**

**Reviews/comments/thoughts/death wishes are greatly appreciated! It'll make me write faster (except the latter one, maybe)**


	15. Chapter 15: Midnight Music

**A/N: Thanks to everybody who's still reading/following the story and welcome to the new readers I gained when posting chapter 14. I truly appreciate it :)**

**Now, without further ado, I present you chapter 15.**

Chapter 15: Midnight Music

"Awesome!" I cheered when I wrapped my arms around Alice's petite figure. "Now how was that as tour kick-off?!"

"You did absolutely fab, Bell!" Alice sounded as excited as I was. "I told you that dress would do you good!"

I laughed at her comment, still surprised night after night that Alice thought the outfit was the one and only key to a great concert. I received a slap on my shoulder from Emmett as compliment on my performance and Jasper handed me a towel and bottle of water.

I opened the bottle, taking a huge gulp from it, while Jasper placed his hand on my back and guided me towards the dressing room.

"Freshen up a little, Alice left you some clothes. I'll make sure the people that assisted us from the venue are gathered somewhere so you can tell them thanks afterwards and then we're off."

I nodded when he looked at me for confirmation and he smiled at me. "Great show, Bells." He slapped my ass in a playful manner before I entered the little bathroom that was attached to my dressing room.

Unfortunately, life on the road wasn't always as hygienic as I wished, because there wasn't a shower. I made a mental note to insist on taking one tomorrow, no matter where. I quickly splashed some water in my face, removing the heavy make-up Rose had put on earlier that evening in the process, and brushed the knots out of my hair before pulling it in a ponytail. I stripped off the little dress Alice had ordered me to wear and rubbed myself clean the best I could with a washing towel, before walking back into my dressing room to dress into my comfy clothes.

I chuckled when I spotted the clothes Alice had laid out for me because her interpretation of comfy clothes was clearly different than mine. There was a pair of black slacks and a casual blouse that was one size too large with a simple top, but at least she had still left me my favourite pair of chucks. She thought they looked awful and didn't understand why I'd still walk around in them after having them for three years, but I loved them too much to get rid of.

I quickly slid into my clothes and shoes, gathered my personal belongings and left the dressing room. Emmett was waiting for me by the door and he walked me to the room where Jasper said he would be.

I took advantage of my short alone time with Emmett and asked him about something that had been bothering me in the back of my head since this afternoon. "Won't it be too much for you, to... well, to guard me all the time? You know, with James and all."

Emmett wrapped his arm around me and smiled down on me. "Don't worry, little B. Whether it's a stalker or not, it's my duty as big brother to protect you from any guys that are inappropriately interested in you."

I smiled, then poked him in his ribs, showing him I wanted him to be serious. He got the hint and his continued genuinely. "I won't be able to be there all the time, but when I'm not there, Jasper will be there. He's not like me, but the guy can throw a punch. And we have an extra male on the force now anyway."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "What happened to the 'why do we need to have a journalist touring with us, Bella' attitude?"

Emmett shrugged, but elaborated when I keep looking at him. "The guy isn't too bad, even Jasper thinks so and he's had to deal with more journalists, so I assume he would know if Edward was one of those asses."

"I'm sure he's not. He doesn't fish, Em. Even when I tell him something that's personal, he doesn't seem to listen as journalist, you know."

Emmett nodded at that. "Yeah, but still, don't forget he is here as a journalist, B. He seems alright, but you never know with those guys."

Emmett stopped at a door and opened it for me. I entered and immediately Jasper walked over to me. There was music playing in the background and there was a lot of talking noise but Jasper still managed to yell for attention. I felt a little uncomfortable when everybody was looking at me, as being the centre of attention on stage or off stage were two completely different things to me.

"I want to thank all of you for making this evening possible. Even though I have great people working with me," I glanced at my friends before looking at the nameless faces in the crowd, "we could never have pulled this off without you guys. Thanks for the great kick-off of this tour and hopefully, we'll meet again in the near future."

At the end of the short thank-you speech, everybody started clapping and cheering and I felt my cheeks burn up. Jasper took over, saying we were very sorry we couldn't join the after party but that we had to hit the road again to make it to the next city in time. After a joined 'aw' by all the persons in the room, they seemed to get back to their own business again and our own little group left the room.

"That was nice."

I turned to look over my shoulder and Edward walked closely behind me. "I try to thank everybody after each gig." I wanted to say more, but was held back by the words Emmett had said to me some minutes ago.

"You're not a diva, I like that." He said with a smile on his face.

Again he sounded so sincere when he said that. I turned my eyes away from him, uncomfortable with the compliment he had given me. He obviously hadn't seen enough of me yet to know I was a diva sometimes. Apparently, the way I had freaked out earlier hadn't looked like I was to him either.

"I-I'm sorry if that was inappropriate." He stated, clearly misinterpreting my silence.

"Oh, no, it wasn't. It's just... sometimes I do act like a diva, I guess you just haven't seen that side of me yet. But thanks."

He nudged my shoulder with his and I immediately felt all warm inside. Apparently his touch wasn't something my body would get used to. Nor was his smile, as I felt butterflies fluttering in my stomach when his charm grin made its appearance.

"I don't believe that." He ran his hand through his hair and I found myself wishing so badly I could replace his hands with my own.

Before I could reply anything, we had reached the bus and we all boarded. Emmett and Jasper claimed to be too awake to go to bed yet, so they immediately took a seat in the little launch room in the front of the bus, practically dragging Edward with them using the excuse that having three players was more awesome. Rose decided to hang with them for a while, but Alice and I both went to bed. I didn't want to be a spoil sport but I knew it was best to get settled into a sleeping rhythm. Especially with such a long tour that would require a lot from my body.

While I searched through my suitcase for a sleeping shirt and boy shorts, Alice was already getting into her bunk. Figuring I might as well take advantage of the time we had together, I decided it was time for some girl talk.

"Alice, can we talk for a sec?"

I switched from my so-called comfy clothes into the sleeping outfit and climbed into my bunk as well, seeing Alice was at the same upper bunk like me, only on the opposite side of the narrow space between the beds.

"Of course. What is it?" She sat perked up on her bed, clearly curious what this would be about.

"I want you to be honest here and no overly excited enthusiasm, okay?" When she nodded, I continued. "So, well, you know about Edward. I know I shouldn't be feeling like this, but I do. The thing is... I really can't help myself, Al. When we talk, I feel so comfortable, but at the same time there is this tense feeling because there is something there, you know?" I glanced over at Alice and continued when she nodded again. "I really want to get to know him better, whether he's a journalist or not. But it could end so fucking badly. Really, really, fucking badly." I looked at Alice expectantly, hoping she'd say something great that would make this problem sound like it was nothing.

"Bella, I think that you should go for it. I won't deny that there's a certain... weirdness about this, you wanting to live a private life but considering dating a journalist, but think about it. This is the first time I have heard you talk about a guy since Mike. That means something, doesn't it?"

I hadn't even realised it, but now that Alice mentioned it, I knew she was right. "Yeah, I guess you're right." I looked down at my hands and fumbled with the bed sheets.

"Get to know him, see where it leads the two of you. You won't know until you try and you wouldn't want to regret not trying in a few years, right?"

I nodded again, knowing she was right. However, we were overlooking one tiny fact here. I didn't even know if Edward was even remotely interested. I now knew he was single, but that didn't automatically translate to being interested in Bella Swan.

"I don't even know if he's interested, Al." I let myself fall back onto my bed while I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a groan.

"Oh, _he's_ interested."

I looked at her to see her wiggling her eyebrows. I laughed at the sight for a moment, before turning serious again. "How would you know?"

"Because of the way he looks at you." Alice paused and I knew it was to add a bit of dramatic effect. She might have listened to my request to tone down the squealing, but Alice was still Alice after all.

"It's the same way Jasper looks at me."

I shot up in my bed with my eyes wide, hitting my head against the wall in the process. Rubbing it to ease the pain, I grimaced. "What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean?"

Shrugging, Alice just slit into her bed like it was the most normal thing to tell me Edward looked at me like I was the freaking love of his life.

I pulled the covers over my body with a sigh and Alice switched off the light. I stared up to the ceiling not really seeing a thing in the dark, but I was way too busy analysing the last sentence Alice had given me anyway.

I highly doubted I would be getting a lot of sleep tonight.

_**~EBEBEBEB~**_

I woke up from the very light sleep I had eventually slit into and checked my phone for the time. I groaned when it was only 3AM and I had slept for merely a short hour. Emmett was snoring so I knew I wouldn't fall asleep again quickly.

Turning in my bed, I closed my eyes again hoping at least resting would do me a little good. I focussed on the constant sound of the tires on the road to lull me asleep, but I realised I heard soft guitar playing. I opened the curtain thing of my bunk and leaned out of my bed. I couldn't see anything in the dark, but it had to come from somewhere on the bus.

I got out of my bed, hitting my toe in the process and I did my best not to curse out loud. I grabbed the hoodie I had left at the foot of my bed earlier and pulled it over my shirt before I headed toward the front of the bus.

After going through the two doors that separated the sleeping area from the launch area, I found myself staring at Edward's back while he was playing acoustic guitar. His hair was more of a mess than usual but it only made him look even more beautiful.

Deciding I had been staring at him long enough without him knowing, I cleared my throat. Edward stopped playing and turned around.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

I shook my head and ran my hand through my greasy hair, suddenly very aware of the fact I probably looked like shit. "What were you playing?" I asked while I sat down next to him.

"It's uh... something I've been working on lately." He let out a nervous chuckle and ran his hand through his hair.

"Can I hear it?" I wrapped my legs under my body and made myself comfortable, knowing I wouldn't be heading back to bed soon anyway.

He seemed to relax a little and took the guitar pick that was lying in front of him. "Yeah, it... but it's not really done. It's not, I don't know... just something isn't working yet."

"Let me hear." I ordered him and motioned for him to start.

He shot me a smile and did as I told him. His entire attitude seemed to change when he was playing. He looked very intense, like he was truly playing from his heart. I felt drawn into his music from the first notes on and I closed my eyes to lose myself in it.

I opened them again when he finished playing and looked right into his piercing green eyes. "That was beautiful, Edward. I love it."

"Thanks, but I'm still not fully satisfied with it." He scratched something out on the paper in front of him.

"You play piano, too, right?"

He looked at me surprised, apparently not expecting I would still remember that. One moment he'd act as if I was a friend of his, the next I was back to being Isabella Swan to him. "Yeah, I do." His surprised face turned into a crooked smile. "You have a good memory."

"You should play it on piano, it fits the emotion of the song better."

Edward frowned for a moment and I realised I was practically ordering him to do so.

"I mean, if you want. It's only a suggestion, of course." I quickly added.

"No, no, I think you're right. It _would_ fit better." He scribbled something down on his paper before looking at me again. "Too bad I forgot to bring my piano."

I laughed and secretly made a mental note to ask Jasper if any of the following venues would have a piano among their own equipment.

"Alright, I should probably get back to bed." I said as I stood up.

Edward got up as well and packed his stuff. "Yeah, me too."

I waited for him to grab his things and we headed toward the bunks. Edward took my arm before I could climb back into my bed.

"Thanks, Bella." I heard him whisper in the dark, unable to see him.

"Anytime." I whispered back, glad I had been able to help him a little.

Edward's hand disappeared from my arm but shifted to my neck. My heartbeat went up within a nanosecond and my throat went dry. I felt him pull me towards him and my body complied. He pressed his lips on my forehead, letting them linger there for a moment.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm down, knowing I'd have a heart attack if my heart would beat any faster, or at the very least, a few broken ribs. Luckily, for my heart at least, Edward let go of me again and pulled back. I felt cold immediately without his body close to mine and his lips on my skin.

"Good night, Bella."

"Night, Edward."

I crawled into my bed and under the sheets, still completely dazed by Edward. From a simple kiss on my forehead. I closed my eyes and let out a content sigh, feeling like a teenager all over again.

And I couldn't care less.

**A/N: Aww! Bella's in love. But how will she handle it? Next up an EPOV. **

**Also, reviews make my day! *wink wink, nudge nudge***


	16. Chapter 16: Mood Swings

**A/N: Yes, an update. It's taking me forever to write chapters and I apologise for that. But I figure better late than never, right?**

Chapter 16: Mood Swings

- Edward -

When I woke up the next – or the same, theoretically – morning, I felt like shit. I ran my hand through my hair before dropping my arm over my face and groaning. I wasn't a morning person in the first place, but I seriously hadn't slept enough to face a new day yet.

I heard muffled voices, indicating at least a few people were up already. I turned in my bed to grab my phone and it turned out to be a little after ten already. Judging from the silence besides the voices, we had probably arrived in the next city sometime during my sleep.

Suddenly, somebody yanked away the curtain that separated my bed from the room – if you could even call it that – it was in. Expecting to see someone standing there, I was quite surprised to see lots of hair dangling in front of my eyes. Letting my gaze follow the hair, I saw Bella smiling down on me upside down, clearly hanging from the bed above mine.

"Good morning, Edward."

"Morning." I greeted her back, my voice sounding rough from its first use in the morning. "Please tell me you're not a morning person."

Chuckling, she shook her head which resulted in her dark hair getting into my face. Not able to resist the urge to sniff it, I groaned when I smelled the strawberry scent of her shampoo. _Why is she so damn great?_

"Sorry." Bella apologised and used her hand to push her hair back. Or up, really.

She disappeared from my view when she leaned back into her own bed space, only to reappear again when she jumped out of it.

Even though I hadn't know her that long, I realised jumping probably wasn't the greatest idea and I was proved right when Bella let out an 'ouch'. Rubbing her elbow, she smiled at me sheepishly and blushed a little.

"Are you into running?" She asked as I sat up in bed and ran my hands through my hair a few time, hopefully making it look a little more presentable, which I knew was in fact impossible.

"Yeah, I do it sometimes. Why?"

It wasn't until then that I realised she was wearing a sports outfit. She had mentioned having to exercise on tour, but I hadn't really expected her to be a runner, as she didn't have a very good equilibrium.

"Want to join me? Emmett and Jasper are both occupied and, as much as I love Alice, I doubt she could stop any crazy fans from attacking me." She chuckled but I noticed the slightest hint of worry in her eyes.

I nodded at her, before throwing away the covers. "Sure, just let me get ready."

"Thank you!" Her walk as she disappeared to the front of the bus was almost as cheerful and bouncy as Alice's and I wondered what had gotten her into such a good mood. Not that it really mattered, a good mood is a good mood.

After changing and taking the cup of coffee Bella offered me to get out of my sleepy daze, we both left the bus to go running. Letting Bella set the pace, I fell into step beside her and we ran in comfortable silence for a while. I had honestly no idea where we were going – hell, I didn't even know what city we were in – but Bella seemed to know the way, or at least I hoped so. She must have been here several times before.

Thirty or so minutes into our run, we were entering a park and to my surprise Bella hadn't tripped a single time. Without warning Bella suddenly halted and I almost bumped into her. I chuckled internally how _I_ had almost made us both fall.

Panting, Bella pointed to a bench near a pond and we wandered over to it. She dropped herself on the bench and closed her eyes, letting her head fall back. Sitting down next to her, I took the opportunity she gave me by closing her eyes to ogle her.

Her chest was moving up and down quickly to match her panting and the skin of her face was covered in a layer of sweat, a small smile played around her lips. She looked like she walked right out of my dreams – except she was wearing clothes and we would _definitely_ have been doing a different kind of exercising to make her look like this.

_Fuck. Now I'm hard._

_With Bella next to me. _

_Not a good combination._

Changing my position, I tried to hide my current state as much as possible before Bella would open her eyes again.

"I was talking to Jasper this morning." Bella stated, opening her eyes and looking at me.

_Whew, close call._

She straightened her body and tugged her hands under her thighs, looking awfully innocent, as her small smile turned into a grin. "Apparently, the venue where I'll perform tonight has a piano among their own equipment. I thought, maybe you could work on your song some more?"

_Jesus fuck. Here I am, hiding the hard-on from ogling her and she goes and arranges a piano for me. I'm such a fucking ass._

Mirroring her grin, I nodded at her. "That'd be great. Thanks."

Bella shrugged and looked away from me, attempting to hide the blush that crept up her cheeks. "I know I never like it when I'm inspired but can't work on it right away, so I just uh..." She trailed off, still not facing me.

Her head shot in my direction when I placed my hand on her knee. "Thank you, Bella." I really wanted her to know I appreciated it.

She smiled shyly at me, before practically jumping off the bench, my hand sliding off her leg abruptly. "Let's go back, okay?"

Shit. My problem hadn't exactly disappeared yet.

"Err, would you mind to just sit here a little longer?" I shifted uncomfortably, leaning forward with my upper body to hopefully hide any evidence of the reason for my request.

With a frown on her face, Bella looked at me for a moment, then shrugged and sat down next to me again.

"So..." She said, letting her voice trail off like she didn't really know what she had wanted to say anyway. As she bit her lip, she stuck her hands beneath her legs again and her knees started bouncing while her eyes focussed on the pond a little too intense to just be watching the ducks. I might not be an expert in body language but she was definitely nervous. What had happened to the good mood she was in before?

"Bella, are you alright?" I asked softy and she turned her head in my direction but didn't look me in the eye.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She tried to guarantee me.

Wasn't that the one sentence that women used when they weren't fine?

Before I could respond again, we were both distracted by a stranger that walked up to us.

"Oh my god, you're Isabella Swan!" The blond haired girl, which I guessed was about sixteen years old, said almost accusingly while she pointed her finger towards Bella.

Bella shifted uncomfortably but forced a smile on her face and nodded.

"Oh my god," The blond breathed out before the initial shock in her eyes seemed to wear off and a grin so wide I feared her face would split took its place. "My friends are never going to believe this!" Then her attention suddenly shifted to me and I knew nothing good could come from that. "Is he your boyfriend or something?" Yep, nothing good.

Before either of us could reply though, she looked at Bella again while she started tugging around in her jeans. "Whatever. Could you sign something for me? That'd be so awesome!"

"Of course." Bella replied, the fake smile still plastered on her face.

Apparently, the young girl found what she had been looking for in her jeans pockets as she dug out a crumpled piece of paper and a pen, handing them both over to Bella. Bella signed it as quickly as she could and gave both objects back to the girl.

"Thank you so much." She said as she took Bella's hand in hers.

I placed my hand on the girl's wrists before I had realised, pulling them away from Bella's. She froze before let go of Bella and in return I let go of her wrists. Her eyes were wide when she stared at me for a moment and I shook my head at her. "Don't touch her."

Nodding, she said goodbye to Bella and left us alone again. I looked after her retreating form until Bella cleared her throat.

"Let's go."

She was up and running away from me within seconds and I quickly hurried after her. When I caught up with her, she sped up again. I could easily keep up with her so I ran next to her after only a few steps. Glancing at her, I noticed the frown on her face and her clenched fists.

"Bella, what's wrong?" I asked, already knowing the answer would have to do with me and I pulled a face.

"She was what, like fifteen or something? How much harm could she have done? Maybe gossip me to death?"

Seriously, _that_ was what this was about?

I stopped and pulled at Bella's arm so she couldn't run away again. "You seemed uncomfortable and I figured she had probably crossed a line. I'm sorry if I did."

Bella crossed her arms and refused to look at me. "I'm always uncomfortable in such situations."

_How the fuck am I supposed to know that?_

"How am I supposed to know that?" I vocalised my thoughts. "This isn't really my job, you know."

She huffed and shook her head before running away again. I followed behind her silently, realising she wouldn't change her mind anyway. It reminded me a little of her mood swings during the interview and I guessed it was maybe just some hormonal shit.

As we got back to the tour bus, Bella immediately went into the sleeping area without a word to either me, or Emmett who greeted her. When she didn't reply to him, Emmett frowned and looked at me. Raising my hands in front of me defensively, I sat down in the seat across from him.

"What's up with B?" Emmett asked, not giving up easily.

Groaning, I let my head fall back against the high backrest of my seat. "I don't know. We ran into a fan and the girl grabbed her hands. I told the girl not to do that because Bella seemed uncomfortable, then Bella was pissed at me."

When I finished, I glanced over at Emmett but he still had the frown on his face. After a moment, he grinned at me. "You seriously stink, dude. Go to the hotel and take a shower."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Hotel?"

"B didn't tell you? She's giving two concerts here, so we've got a hotel for tonight. You should check with Jasper about rooms and shit. The hotel is just two blocks away."

After giving me the directions, Emmett got up and went to the sleeping area. I assumed to talk to Bella and ask if I needed to get my ass kicked. I left the bus and entered the hotel lobby only minutes later. Luckily, Alice just walked out of the elevator because I had no idea where Jasper was.

"Alice, do you know where Jasper is?"

"Nope," She said, popping the 'p', "but I do know where your room is. It's room 503, you're sharing it with Sam, the guitarist." She continued as if she knew what I had needed Jasper for.

"Thanks."

I nodded at her before turning to the reception, asking for the key to the room. The receptionist handed me a key card and I made my way towards the elevator. It was one of those lifts where they played a supposedly calming, but in reality just a really annoying tune. Pushing the button of the fifth floor, I waited impatiently for the doors to close. Right when they closed, someone stuck their arm in between and the doors opened again.

Bella.

Her gaze turned away when she realised it was me and she lowered her head, suddenly incredibly interested in her shoes. Her hair fell forward and functioned as curtain to hide her face. Clearly, she didn't want to talk to me.

_Fuck, I'm screwed. If she won't cooperate anymore, that 'On Tour With...' special is seriously gonna suck. _

_Just because I had told a teenage girl not to touch her. She fucking _asked_ me to join her in case something like that would happen._

_Maybe she had been right before, when she said she was a diva sometimes._

I ran my hand through my hair and leaned against the wall. I became annoyed and the fucking tune wasn't helping either.

The elevator pinged and the doors opened, signalling we had reached our floor. Bella tugged her hair behind her ear and I caught a glimpse of her tear strained face before she nearly sprinted out of the elevator.

My stomach clenched at the sight and my annoyance turned into worry. But most of all, guilt.

Because somehow, deep inside, I _knew_ Bella wasn't a diva.

**A/N: Uh-oh, trouble before it's even turned into paradise? Next up will be more EPOV. Reviews motivate me!**


	17. Chapter 17: Grand Piano

**Thank you, thank you, thank you to everybody who's still reading this story 3 It truly means a lot.**

**I know I'm going terribly slow, but I'm glad to be writing again and to be making progress on this fic. The fact that you guys are still with me makes it even better.**

Chapter 17: Grand Piano  
~ Edward POV

I slid the key card through the lock and opened the door of room 503. Sam was nowhere to be seen, but he obviously had been here already, judging from the bag that was tossed on the left one of the two beds. I realised I hadn't really grabbed any of my things from the bus before as Bella had been there. Groaning, I made my way back to the bus to get my overnight stuff. Five minutes later, I was back and definitely ready to finally take a shower.

After dropping my bag on the right bed, I got into the bathroom and stripped off my sweaty jogging outfit. Turning on the water, I stepped into the shower and I relaxed as the water poured down on me.

It didn't take long before my thoughts returned to Bella.

I still thought I hadn't gone too far. I mean, I only wanted to protect her. She had a damn stalker, for fuck's sake. _Obviously_, that girl hadn't been James, but just because Bella had kicked and cursed at a pillow a few times and decided she wanted everything to continue as normally as possible didn't mean the problem would go away like that. This was serious business. She was well-known through the entire country and she needed someone around to protect her from crazy fans. Period.

Fine, I would apologise again later. I hadn't meant to upset her, but I had anyway.

An uneasy feeling filled me when I recalled the way she had looked just before escaping the elevator. I really didn't like to see her hurt.

Yes, I would definitely apologise later.

After that decision I felt slightly better and started washing my hair. I remembered the way Bella had looked when she had sat down on that bench and I was turned on immediately. I jerked off to the memory before turning off the water and getting out of the shower. I didn't bother to dry myself of and simply wrapped a hotel towel across my waist.

Sam still hadn't returned when I stepped into the room again which was alright with me. I figured I could get a little writing for the blog done after getting myself brunch. I had already wrote some yesterday evening, after Bella's concert, but I had forgotten to mention it to her so I couldn't put it online yet.

I discarded the towel on the carpet floor as I got into my jeans. Someone knocked the door and I grabbed the random band shirt I had shoved in the bag. While pulling it on, I opened the door and was met by the shocked eyes of Bella when my head popped through the neck hole.

Quite surprised Bella was standing here, I forgot to ask her in for a moment, then stepped aside as a silent invitation. She passed me and I could smell the scent of her strawberry shampoo. Her hair was wet, not as dripping wet as mine, but it was obvious she had just taken a shower as well. She sat down on Sam's bed and I walked over to mine, picking up the towel on the way to dry my hair.

We sat across each other for a moment, just staring at one another, before I took a deep breath and broke the silence. "Bella, I-" I began, but she put up her hand to silence me and shook her head.

"No, Edward, I'm sorry." She said, stressing the I. "I really don't know what my problem was and I shouldn't have said what I said." Her eyes had a determent look in them. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay. I shouldn't h-"

Bella brought her finger up again to cut me off and gave me a scolding look. "Don't finish that sentence. I had no right to go all Bella Bitch on you while you were only helping me. I appreciate you were looking out for me."

"Bella-"

Again, she put up her hand and opened her mouth to start speaking herself.

"Geez, Bella, are you ever going to allow me to speak again or have you become so full of yourself you only want to hear yourself talk?"

I smirked when her face fell for a moment until she realised I was just kidding. Her lips curled into a shy smile and her cheeks turned my favourite shade of pink. I loved her blush.

"Are we good?" She asked, sounding a little uncertain.

Blaming her mood swings on girl shit, I nodded and smiled at her. "Wanna' go grab something to eat?"

"Sure." She nodded and pushed herself off the bed. "Maybe we can buy something on our way to the venue?"

I glanced at my watch, noticing it was a little after noon, and wondered what she had to do at the venue this early already. "You have to be there early today."

She laughed and I looked at her questioningly with a raised eyebrow. "Not me, you." She explained. "The piano? I figured it'd be easier to work on your song before the sound check." The relaxed expression on her face turned into a frown as she realised something. "Unless you don't want to be there for the sound check, which is completely fine of course. I just thought... Maybe for the blog... Never mind." She waved her hand around as if to erase the last few sentences she'd said and she walked over to the door.

I got up from my bed and followed her. "Now sounds good to me."

Bella turned and gave me a genuine smile before darting over to the lift.

We took a detour on our way to the venue to get the paper on which I had written down the composition last night and my notebook, then another to get something to eat on the go. We talked about some tour related things and Bella filled me in on the schedule of the next couple of days. Tomorrow we would still be here in Worcester, as Bella's first show had sold out quickly and they had added a second date. The day after that we'd travel to whatever city was next but Bella wouldn't have a concert yet that evening.

As we walked inside the venue, Bella greeted the security guard at the artist entrance and led us through the backstage area, until she halted at a storage room, or at least that was what the tag said. "This should be it." She tried the door and it was open.

We walked in and I stopped to look around while Bella walked further into the room. The room was filled with boxes, speakers, standards, whatever really.

"Edward."

I turned to the direction of Bella's voice and she stood next to a beautiful grand piano, with a blanket in her hand.

"Fuck. Whatever moron decided to put that beauty in a storage room should be shot." I looked at the piano in awe and let my hand slide over the keys. It was tuned perfectly so at least they still took care of it. As far as keeping it in storage under a blanket was taking care of it.

"Here." Bella said as she carried a piano bench over to the piano. It was a bit dusty, but I didn't care.

I nodded and got my papers out of my bag. Spotting the notebook, I remembered I had to ask Bella to approve of the blog I had written yesterday.

"Could you check the blog I wrote yesterday? If you'll approve it, I can put it online this afternoon."

Smiling, Bella nodded at me. "Sure. I can do it now if you'd like. Then you can focus on your music."

I handed her my notebook. "It's in my documents. I think I called it 'Isabella blog' or something. Feel free to click around, there aren't exactly top secret documents on there."

"Damn, I was hoping to find your plans for world domination." She headed for the door with my notebook under her arm and smiled at me before leaving the room. "Happy composing."

Sitting down at the piano, I stretched my fingers before playing one of my other compositions.

My fingers slid over the keys and I closed my eyes, as I knew this one by heart. It was a song I had written years ago for my mother. Needless to say, she loved it. She loved anything I created, but that one was her favourite. Back at my parents' house, I had a piano that was a lot like this one. I smiled, as only positive emotions belonged to this composition. I let my fingers rest on the keys after the last chord.

"Wow."

I jumped a little, startled at the sound as I hadn't realised I wasn't alone anymore and looked at the door over my shoulder.

Bella was staring at me, with one hand resting on her chest, my notebook still tugged under her other arm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... That was beautiful... I came back because your notebook asked for a pass and... That was really beautiful, Edward."

I was glad the room wasn't lit well, because I blushed at her compliment. "Thanks. I wrote it for my mother."

"She must love it." Bella still stood there with her hand clutching her chest, frozen on the spot and with a dreamy look in her eyes.

I nodded and Bella seemed the snap out of her trance.

"Right, sorry. I won't disturb you any longer." She turned to walk out of the storage room.

"Bella?"

"Mmh?"

I chuckled at the way Bella seemed so out of it right now, completely forgetting what she had come back for. "The password is Clair de Lune, without the spaces."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." She trailed off for a moment before continuing, "Clair de Lune? I love Clair de Lune."

For some reason, it made me incredibly happy to hear that. "Me too."

Before she closed the door behind her, I spotted the smile on Bella's face and smiled in return.

Shifting through the papers I had put on the piano, I searched for the one that was Bella's song. I hadn't named it yet, because it was unfinished, but I referred to it as Bella's song in my head as the inspiration had come to me on the way home from the interview.

A new wave of inspiration washed over me and I pushed the keys that felt right. Every once in a while I scribbled it down on paper when I found the right notes, but I realised I didn't need to put this on paper to remember. Just thinking of Bella, the melody came to me. The song was Bella's as Bella simply _was_ the song.

I had no idea how long I sat there playing Bella's tune on and on, when Bella slid in between the bench and the piano and sat down next to me. With closed eyes I played it one more time so she could hear it entirely. The last note almost seemed to echo through the room and I opened my eyes again.

I turned my head to look at Bella and she opened her eyes right in that moment. We locked eyes and even in the bad light, I could see her brown ones sparkle. My name fell from her lips, more as a sigh than a whisper.

"If I thought the one for your mother was beautiful, I don't have words for this one." She whispered, still staring into my eyes.

Before I replied, I swallowed heavily, sure I wouldn't be able to speak otherwise. "It's yours."

She blinked once and slid closer to me on the bench so our thighs were touching. "Mine?"

Nodding, I broke our eye contact for a moment to look at her lips when her tongue darted out to wet them, then my eyes returned to hers again and they suddenly seemed to be closer.

"Bella." My voice was hoarse and I almost didn't recognise it as mine.

I wasn't sure who closed the distance but the next moment our lips were touching and it felt like no other kiss had ever felt before. Closing my eyes I was aware of Bella only as I put my arm around her waist and pulled her closer, wanting as much body contact as possible in this position.

Bella pulled back for a moment and I felt her warm breath on my skin. She gently tugged at the arm I had wrapped around her and it felt like my heart literally sank when I let go of her. I opened my eyes and was about to apologise for something I didn't know yet exactly but then I saw Bella smiling at me, a kind of smile I hadn't seen of her before.

She moved the bench backwards creating more space between us and the piano, then stood up slowly, only to sit down again in my lap facing me. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she leaned in and kissed me again. I responded eagerly as I placed my hands on her sides and pulled her closer. When her tongue sought entrance I parted my lips willingly, wanting to taste her. As our tongues met, she let out a moan and I almost came undone right there and then.

While Bella's hands ran through my hair frantically, my hands moved down to her ass – _a fucking fine ass_ – and pushed her centre against my hard-on, earning another moan from Bella. I pulled away from our kiss in desperate need of oxygen but continued to kiss her skin from her jaw towards her neck. As she let her head fall backwards to give me better access, Bella untangled one of her hands from my hair, placing it on the keys of the piano and producing the most horrible, yet – under the circumstances – best sound in one. I laughed softly against her skin and I heard her giggle.

In that very moment, I realised I was in love with Isabella Swan.

**A/N: Fiiiiiinally! These two are just so stubborn.**


End file.
